The XPRIZE mission is to bring about “radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity” through incentivized competition, it fosters high-profile competitions to motivate individuals, companies and organizations across all disciplines to develop innovative ideas and technologies that help solve the grand challenges that restrict humanity’s progress.

The highest-profile XPRIZE to date was the Ansari X Prize relating to spacecraft development awarded in 2004, this prize was intended to inspire research and development into technology for space exploration.

The first, titled the Ansari XPRIZE, was presented on November 6, 2004.

The first XPRIZE – the Ansari XPRIZE – was inspired by the Orteig Prize, a $25,000 prize offered in 1919 by French hotelier Raymond Orteig for the first nonstop flight between New York City and Paris; in 1927, underdog Charles Lindbergh won the prize in a modified single-engine Ryan aircraft called the Spirit of St. Louis. In total, nine teams spent $400,000 in pursuit of the Orteig Prize.

In 1996, entrepreneur Peter Diamandis offered a $10-million prize to the first privately financed team that could build and fly a three-passenger vehicle 100 kilometers into space twice within two weeks, the contest, later titled the Ansari XPRIZE for Suborbital Spaceflight, motivated 26 teams from seven nations to invest more than $100 million in pursuit of the $10 million purse. On October 4, 2004, the Ansari XPRIZE was won by Mojave Aerospace Ventures, who successfully completed the contest in their spacecraft SpaceShipOne, the prize was awarded in a ceremony at the Saint Louis Science Center in St. Louis, Missouri.[2] As of 2011, the Science Center maintains numerous exhibits about the XPRIZE.

The foundation has also created the XPRIZE Cup rocket challenge competition.

Attract investment from outside the sector that takes new approaches to difficult problems.

Create significant results that are real and meaningful. Competitions have measurable goals, and are created to promote adoption of the innovation.

Cross national and disciplinary boundaries to encourage teams around the world to invest the intellectual and financial capital required to solve difficult challenges.

Other organizations such as the Nobel Prize committee award prizes and financial rewards to individuals or organizations that produce novel advances in science, medicine and technology. One difference between the XPRIZES and other similar organizations is awarding prizes based on the first to achieve objective 'finish line' requirements rather than a selection committee discussing the relative merits of different endeavors, for instance, the Archon Genomics XPRIZE target is to sequence 100 human genomes in 10 days or less, with less than one error per 100,000 DNA base pairs, covering 98% of the genome and costing less than $10,000 per genome (this prize was cancelled because it was outpaced by innovation).

The prize can increase attention to endeavors that otherwise might not receive much publicity, for example, attempts in the recent Lunar Lander competition have been well publicized in the media, increasing visibility of both the foundation and the participants.

With the Ansari XPRIZE, XPRIZE established a model in which offering a prize for achieving a specific goal can stimulate entrepreneurial investment, since then, new challenges have expanded into a range of other fields. XPRIZE is developing new prizes in Exploration (Space and Oceans), Life Sciences, Energy & Environment, Education and Global Development. Some hope the prizes will help improve lives, create equity of opportunity and stimulate new, important discoveries.

Astronaut Mike Melvill after his award-winning September 29, 2004 spaceflight

The Ansari XPRIZE for Suborbital Spaceflight was the first prize from the foundation, it successfully challenged teams to build private spaceships capable of carrying three people and fly two times within two weeks to open the space frontier. The first part of the Ansari XPRIZE requirements was fulfilled by Mike Melvill on September 29, 2004 On SpaceShipOne, a spacecraft designed by Burt Rutan and financed by Paul Allen, co-founder and former CEO of Microsoft. On that ship, Melvill broke the 100-kilometer (62.5 mi) mark, internationally recognized as the boundary of outer space, winning the prize. Brian Binniecompleted the second part of the requirements on October 4, 2004. As a result, US$10 million was awarded to the winner, but more than $100 million was invested in new technologies in pursuit of the prize. Today, Sir Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos and others are creating a personal spaceflight industry.

Awarding this first prize gave XPRIZE as much publicity as the winners themselves, after the 2004 success there was ample media coverage to afford both Scaled Composites and XPRIZE additional support for them to expand and continue to pursue their aims. Following this early success several other XPRIZES were announced that have yet to be awarded despite various attempts to meet the requirements.

The Ansari XPRIZE won the Space Foundation's Douglas S. Morrow Public Outreach Award in 2005, the award is given annually to an individual or organization that has made significant contributions to public awareness of space programs.[3]

The goal of the Progressive Insurance Automotive XPRIZE was to design, build and race super-efficient vehicles that achieve 100 MPGe (2.35 liter/100 kilometer) efficiency, produce less than 200 grams/mile well-to-wheel CO2 equivalent emissions, and could be manufactured for the mass market.[4]

The winners of the competition were announced on September 16, 2010.[5]

Team Edison2 won the $5 million Mainstream competition with its four-passenger Very Light Car, obtaining 102.5 MPGe running on E85 fuel.

Team Li-Ion Motors won the $2.5 million Alternative Side-by-Side competition with their aerodynamic Wave-II electric vehicle achieving 187 MPGe.

Team X-Tracer Switzerland won the $2.5 million Alternative Tandem competition with their 205.3 MPGe faired electric motorcycle.

The Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup XCHALLENGE was introduced on July 29, 2010, the $1 million prize had a goal to inspire a new generation of innovative solutions that will speed the pace of cleaning up seawater surface oil resulting from spillage from ocean platforms, tankers, and other sources. The team of Elastec/American Marine won the challenge by developing a device that skims oil off water three times faster than previously existing technology.[6]

The Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander XCHALLENGE (NGLLXPC) was a competition (co-hosted by NASA) to build precise, efficient small rocket systems. It was introduced in 2006 and awarded on November 5, 2009 in Washington D.C. to Masten Space Systems, led by David Masten, the top $1 million prize, while Armadillo Aerospace, led by id Software founder John Carmack took home the second place prize of $500,000, plus an additional $500,000 in 2008.

The Nokia Sensing XCHALLENGE goal is accelerating the use of sensors and sensing technology to tackle health care problems and find ways for people to monitor and maintain their personal well-being, it will be composed of two distinct Challenges held in 2013 and 2014. Prize purses totaling $2.25 million will be awarded. It was announced in 2012[7] and 12 finalists announced in 2013,[8] on 11 November 2014 the winner has been named.[9]

The Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE was announced on May 10, 2011, and is sponsored by Qualcomm Foundation, it was officially launched on January 10, 2012.[12] The $10 million prize is awarded for creating a mobile device that can "diagnose patients better than or equal to a panel of board certified physicians",[13] the name is taken from the tricorder device in Star Trek which can be used to instantly diagnose ailments.[14]

The Google Lunar XPRIZE was introduced on September 13, 2007, the goal of the prize is similar to that of the Ansari XPRIZE, to inspire a new generation of private investment in space exploration and technology. The challenge calls for teams to compete in successfully launching, landing, and operating a rover on the lunar surface, the prize awards $20 million to the first team to land a rover on the moon that successfully roves more than 500 meters and transmits back high definition images and video. There is a $5 million second prize, as well as $5 million in potential bonus prizes for extra features such as roving long distances (greater than 5,000 meters) capturing images of man-made objects on the moon, or surviving a lunar night.

On 23 January 2018, the prize ended when no team was able to schedule, confirm and pay for a launch attempt, the X Prize Foundation announced that "no team would be able to make a launch attempt to reach the Moon by the 31 March 2018 deadline... and the US$30 million Google Lunar XPRIZE will go unclaimed."[15][16]

The Archon Genomics XPRIZE, the second XPRIZE to be offered by the foundation, was announced October 4, 2006, the goal of the Archon Genomics XPRIZE was to greatly reduce the cost and increase the speed of human genome sequencing to create a new era of personalized, predictive and preventive medicine, eventually transforming medical care from reactive to proactive. The $10 million prize purse was promised to the first team that can build a device and use it to sequence 100 human genomes within 10 days or less, with an accuracy of no more than one error in every 100,000 bases sequenced, with sequences accurately covering at least 98% of the genome, and at a recurring cost of no more than $1,000 per genome.

If more than one team attempted the competition at the same time, and more than one team fulfilled all the criteria, then teams would have been ranked according to the time of completion. No more than three teams would have been ranked and would have shared the purse in the following manner: $7.5 million to the winner and $2.5 million to the second place team if two teams were successful, or $7 million, $2 million and $1 million if three teams are successful.

Actual competition events were originally scheduled to take place twice a year with all eligible teams given the opportunity to make an attempt, starting at precisely the same time as the other teams, this was changed to a single competition scheduled for September 5, 2013 to October 1, 2013, which was canceled on August 22, 2013. The rationale for the change was articulated by the CEO: "Today, companies can do this for less than $5,000 per genome, in a few days or less – and are moving quickly towards the goals we set for the prize, for this reason, we have decided to cancel an XPRIZE for the first time ever."[17]

The Global Learning XPRIZE, launched in September, 2014, is a $15-million prize to create mobile apps to improve reading, writing, and arithmetic in developing nations, each application will be developed during an 18-month period and the top five teams will receive $1 million each, with each of the winning apps being made available under an open source license. The finalist that develops an app with that produces the highest performance gains will win a $10 million prize.[18]

The A.I. XPRIZE was announced as having an aim to use an artificial intelligence system to deliver a compelling TED talk. Diamandis hopes to contrast the benevolent value of AI against the dystopian point of view that sometimes enter AI conversations, the winning team of the contest, which is scheduled for 2020, will be determined by the audience.[19]

On December 14, 2015, Peter Diamandis, chairman and CEO of X Prize, announced the launch of a new $7 million prize that will be a three-year global competition that challenges researchers to build better technologies for mapping Earth's seafloor.[20]

On 29 September 2015, Peter Diamandis, chairman and CEO of X Prize, announced the launch of a $20 million prize for a 4.5-year competition on testing technologies which converts CO2 into products with the highest net value to reduce carbon dioxide emissions of either a coal or a natural gas power plant.[21]

Find solutions how to improve literacy proficiency of adults in reading within a 12-month period, the challenge has been announced on 8 June 2015 and is awarded with $7 million by Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy and the Dollar General Literacy Foundation.[22] The winners will be announced in January 2019.[23]

The Anu & Naveen Jain Women's Safety XPRIZE was launched on October 24, 2016 and has a $1 million purse. The goal for competing teams is to develop a safety device for women that can autonomously and inconspicuously trigger an emergency alert while transmitting information to a network of community responders.[24]

The Water Abundance XPRIZE was launched on October 24, 2016 and has a $1.75 million purse provided by the Tata Group and Australian Aid. Competing teams must develop an atmospheric water generator that extracts a minimum of 2,000 liters of water per day using 100% renewable energy, at a cost of no more than 2 cents per liter.[25]

2018 ANA Avatar XPRIZE

The $10 million ANA Avatar XPRIZE is a four-year competition focused on accelerating the integration of emerging and exponential technologies into a multipurpose avatar system that will seamlessly transport human skills and experience to the exact location where and when they are needed.

The XPRIZE Foundation also has a Board of Trustees that provides insights on new technologies, grand challenges requiring significant innovation, and other areas that lend themselves to prize philanthropy. A sample of the Trustees includes:

1.
Culver City, California
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Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California. The city was named after its founder, Harry Culver, as of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 38,883. It is mostly surrounded by the city of Los Angeles, over the years, it has annexed more than 40 pieces of adjoining land and now comprises about five square miles. Since the 1920s, Culver City has been a center for motion picture and later television production, from 1932 to 1985, it was the headquarters for the Hughes Aircraft Company. National Public Radio West and Sony Pictures Entertainment have headquarters in the city, the NFL Network studio is also based in Culver City. Archaeological evidence suggests a human presence in the area of present-day Culver City since at least 8,000 BC, the region was the homeland of the Tongva-Gabrieliño Native Americans, who held a presence in the region for over 8,000 years. The city was founded primarily on the lands of the former Rancho La Ballona, Rancho Rincon de los Bueyes, and Rancho La Cienega o Paso de la Tijera. In 1861, during the American Civil War, Camp Latham was established by the 1st California Infantry under Col. James H. Carleton and the 1st California Cavalry under Lt. Col. Benjamin F. Davis. Named for California Senator Milton S. Latham, the camp was the first staging area for the training of Union troops and their operations in Southern California. It was located on land of the Rancho La Ballona, on the South side of Ballona Creek, near what is now the intersection of Jefferson, the post was later moved to Camp Drum, which became the Drum Barracks. Harry Culver first attempted to establish Culver City in 1913, the city was incorporated on September 20,1917, the city was one of many all-white planned communities started in the Los Angeles area around this time. The first film studio in Culver City was built by Thomas Ince in 1918, in 1919, silent film comedy producer Hal Roach built his studios there, and Metro Goldwyn Mayer in the 20s. During Prohibition, speakeasies and nightclubs such as the Cotton Club lined Washington Boulevard, Culver Center, one of Southern Californias first shopping malls, was completed in 1950 on Venice Boulevard near the Overland Avenue intersection. Today, it has retail stores, a supermarket, a Rite Aid department store, Best Buy. Hughes Aircraft opened its Culver City plant in July 1941, there the company built the H-4 Hercules transport. Hughes was also a subcontractor in World War II. It developed and patented a flexible feed chute for faster loading of machine guns on B-17 bombers, Hughes produced more ammunition belts than any other American manufacturer, and built 5,576 wings and 6,370 rear fuselage sections for Vultee BT-13 trainers. Hughes grew after the war, and in 1953 Howard Hughes donated all of his stock in the company to the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, after he died in 1976, the institute sold the company, which made it the second-best-endowed medical research foundation in the world

2.
Peter Diamandis
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He is also the former CEO and co-founder of the Zero Gravity Corporation, the co-founder and vice chairman of Space Adventures Ltd. Diamandis was born in The Bronx, New York. His parents, both Greek immigrants, were in the business, his father was a physician. From a very early age, Diamandis expressed a keen interest in space exploration, at age 8, he began giving lectures on space to his family and friends. At age 12, Diamandis won first place in the Estes Rocket Design Competition for building a system able to simultaneously launch three rockets. During his second year at MIT in 1980, Diamandis co-founded Students for the Exploration, Diamandis graduated from MIT in 1983 with a B. S. in molecular biology. He then entered Harvard Medical School to pursue his M. D, during his second year of medical school, he co-founded the Space Generation Foundation to promote projects and programs that would help the Space Generation get off the planet. During his last year of school in 1989, Diamandis was acting as managing director of the International Space University and CEO of International Micro Space. After completing his M. S. at MIT, Diamandis returned to Harvard completing his M. D, in 1987, during his third year of medical school, Diamandis co-founded the International Space University alongside Todd B. Hawley and Robert D. Richards. Diamandis served as the director and chief operating officer of the university until 1989. Today, ISU offers a Space Studies program and two accredited Master of Space Studies degrees and it has grown into a $30 million university campus headquartered in Strasbourg, France. Diamandis co-founded Microsat Launch Systems, later renamed International MicroSpace Inc. in 1989 during his year of medical school. IMI designed a small launcher called Orbital Express for taking 100-kg payloads to low-Earth orbit, the company won a $100 million SDIO contract for one launch plus nine options and was sold to CTA Inc of Rockville, MD in 1993 for $250,000. Diamandis joined CTA for one year as VP of Commercial Space Programs post-acquisition, in 1991, Diamandis founded Constellation Communications, Inc. one of five low-Earth orbit satellite constellations for voice telephony. The company was funded to deploy an equatorial ring of 10 satellites to provide communications primarily to Brazil, Constellation was sold to E-Systems and Orbital, Diamandis remained the director until 1993. In 1994, Diamandis founded the X PRIZE Foundation after the failure of International MicroSpace, Inc and he serves as the chairman and CEO of the foundation. The X PRIZE was created to fund and operate a $10 million incentive competition intended to inspire a new generation of private passenger-carrying spaceships, the prize was announced on May 18,1996 in St. Louis, MO without any purse money or any teams. The prize was funded through an insurance policy underwritten by the Anousheh and Hamid Ansari Family. The winning vehicle, SpaceShipOne, was piloted to space twice within two weeks to win the competition, the first flight was made on September 29,2004, piloted by Mike Melvill and the winning second flight was made on October 4,2004 by pilot Brian Binnie

3.
Human
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Modern humans are the only extant members of Hominina tribe, a branch of the tribe Hominini belonging to the family of great apes. Several of these hominins used fire, occupied much of Eurasia and they began to exhibit evidence of behavioral modernity around 50,000 years ago. In several waves of migration, anatomically modern humans ventured out of Africa, the spread of humans and their large and increasing population has had a profound impact on large areas of the environment and millions of native species worldwide. Humans are uniquely adept at utilizing systems of communication for self-expression and the exchange of ideas. Humans create complex structures composed of many cooperating and competing groups, from families. Social interactions between humans have established a wide variety of values, social norms, and rituals. These human societies subsequently expanded in size, establishing various forms of government, religion, today the global human population is estimated by the United Nations to be near 7.5 billion. In common usage, the word generally refers to the only extant species of the genus Homo—anatomically and behaviorally modern Homo sapiens. In scientific terms, the meanings of hominid and hominin have changed during the recent decades with advances in the discovery, there is also a distinction between anatomically modern humans and Archaic Homo sapiens, the earliest fossil members of the species. The English adjective human is a Middle English loanword from Old French humain, ultimately from Latin hūmānus, the words use as a noun dates to the 16th century. The native English term man can refer to the species generally, the species binomial Homo sapiens was coined by Carl Linnaeus in his 18th century work Systema Naturae. The generic name Homo is a learned 18th century derivation from Latin homō man, the species-name sapiens means wise or sapient. Note that the Latin word homo refers to humans of either gender, the genus Homo evolved and diverged from other hominins in Africa, after the human clade split from the chimpanzee lineage of the hominids branch of the primates. The closest living relatives of humans are chimpanzees and gorillas, with the sequencing of both the human and chimpanzee genome, current estimates of similarity between human and chimpanzee DNA sequences range between 95% and 99%. The gibbons and orangutans were the first groups to split from the leading to the humans. The splitting date between human and chimpanzee lineages is placed around 4–8 million years ago during the late Miocene epoch, during this split, chromosome 2 was formed from two other chromosomes, leaving humans with only 23 pairs of chromosomes, compared to 24 for the other apes. There is little evidence for the divergence of the gorilla, chimpanzee. Each of these species has been argued to be an ancestor of later hominins

4.
James Cameron
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James Francis Jim Cameron is a Canadian filmmaker, director, producer, screenwriter, inventor, engineer, philanthropist, and deep-sea explorer. He first found success with the science fiction action film The Terminator. He then became a popular Hollywood director and was hired to write and direct Aliens and he found further critical acclaim for his use of special effects in Terminator 2, Judgment Day. After his film True Lies Cameron took on his biggest film at the time, Titanic, despite Avatar being his only movie made to date in 3D, Cameron is the most successful 3D film-maker in terms of box-office revenue. In the time between making Titanic and Avatar, Cameron spent several years creating many documentary films and co-developed the digital 3D Fusion Camera System, described by a biographer as part scientist and part artist, Cameron has also contributed to underwater filming and remote vehicle technologies. On March 26,2012, Cameron reached the bottom of the Mariana Trench and he is the first person to do this in a solo descent, and is only the third person to do so ever. In total, Camerons directorial efforts have grossed approximately US$2 billion in North America, not adjusted for inflation, Camerons Titanic and Avatar are the two highest-grossing films of all time at $2.19 billion and $2.78 billion respectively. Cameron also holds the achievement of having directed two of the three films in history to gross over $2 billion worldwide, in March 2011, he was named Hollywoods top earner by Vanity Fair, with estimated 2010 earnings of $257 million. Cameron was born in 1954 in Kapuskasing, Ontario, Canada, the son of Shirley, an artist and nurse, and Phillip Cameron and his paternal great-great-great-grandfather emigrated from Balquhidder, Scotland, in 1825. Cameron grew up in Chippawa, Ontario, and attended Stamford Collegiate School in Niagara Falls and his family moved to Brea, California in 1971, when Cameron was 17 years old. He dropped out of Sonora High School, then attended Brea Olinda High School to further his secondary education, Cameron enrolled at Fullerton College, a two-year community college, in 1973 to study physics. He switched to English, then dropped out before the start of the fall 1974 semester, next, he worked several jobs, including as a truck driver, writing when he had time. That way I could sit down and read it, and if theyd let me photocopy it, Cameron quit his job as a truck driver to enter the film industry after seeing Star Wars in 1977. When Cameron read Syd Fields book Screenplay, it occurred to him that science and art was possible. They raised money, rented camera, lenses, film stock and they dismantled the camera to understand how to operate it and spent the first half-day of the shoot trying to figure out how to get it running. He was the director, writer, producer, and production designer for Xenogenesis and he then became a production assistant on a film called Rock and Roll High School, though uncredited, in 1979. While continuing to educate himself in film-making techniques, Cameron started working as a miniature-model maker at Roger Corman Studios, making rapidly produced, low-budget productions taught Cameron to work efficiently and effectively. He soon found employment as an art director in the sci-fi movie Battle Beyond the Stars and he did special effects work design and direction on John Carpenters Escape from New York, acted as production designer on Galaxy of Terror, and consulted on the design of Android

5.
Larry Page
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Lawrence Larry Edward Page is an American computer scientist and Internet entrepreneur who co-founded Google along with Sergey Brin. Page is the executive officer of Googles parent company, Alphabet Inc. After stepping aside as Google CEO in August 2001 in favour of Eric Schmidt and he announced his intention to step aside a second time in July 2015 to become CEO of Alphabet, under which Googles assets would be reorganized. Under Page, Alphabet is seeking to deliver major advancements in a variety of industries, in November 2016, he is the 12th richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$36.9 billion. Page is the inventor of PageRank, Googles best-known search ranking algorithm, Page received the Marconi Prize in 2004. Page was born March 26,1973 in East Lansing, Michigan and his father, Carl Victor Page, Sr. He was a science professor at Michigan State University and Pages mother, Gloria, was an instructor in computer programming at Lyman Briggs College. Page was an avid reader during his youth, writing in his 2013 Google founders letter that I remember spending an amount of time poring over books. According to writer Nicholas Carlson, the influence of Pages home atmosphere and his attentive parents fostered creativity. Page also played saxophone and studied music composition while growing up, Page has mentioned that his musical education inspired his impatience and obsession with speed in computing. In some sense I feel like music training led to the legacy of Google for me. In an interview Page said that In music you’re very cognizant of time. Time is like the thing and that If you think about it from a music point of view, if you’re a percussionist, you hit something, it’s got to happen in milliseconds. Page was first attracted to computers when he was six years old and he became the first kid in his elementary school to turn in an assignment from a word processor. His older brother taught him to take things apart and before long he was taking everything in his house apart to see how it worked. He said that from a early age, I also realized I wanted to invent things. So I became really interested in technology and business, probably from when I was 12, I knew I was going to start a company eventually. Page attended the Okemos Montessori School in Okemos, Michigan, from 1975 to 1979 and he attended Interlochen Center for the Arts as a saxophonist for two summers while in high school

6.
Arianna Huffington
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Arianna Huffington is a Greek American author, syndicated columnist, occasional actress, and businesswoman. Huffington was the co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post, which is now owned by AOL and she was a popular conservative commentator in the mid-1990s, after which, in the 1990s, she offered liberal points of view in public, while remaining involved in business endeavors. Her full name is rendered in English as Arianna Stassinopoulos Huffington. She is the spouse of former Republican congressman Michael Huffington. Before she married Michael Huffington, her name was rendered in English as Stassinopoulos rather than Stassinopoulou. In 2003, she ran as an independent candidate for governor in the California recall election, in 2009, Huffington was #12 in Forbess first-ever list of the Most Influential Women In Media. She has also moved up to #42 in The Guardians Top 100 in Media List, as of 2014, she is listed by Forbes as the 52nd Most Powerful Woman in the World. On August 11,2016, it was announced that she would step down from her role at the Huffington Post to devote her time to a new startup, Thrive Global, focused on health and wellness information. Huffington was born Ariadnē-Anna Stasinopoúlou in Athens, Greece, the daughter of Konstantinos and Elli Stasinopoulou, and is the sister of Agapi. She moved to the United Kingdom at the age of 16 and studied economics at Girton College, Cambridge, where she was the first foreign, in 1971, Huffington appeared in an edition of Face the Music along with Bernard Levin. A relationship developed, of which she wrote, after his death, He wasnt just the big love of my life, he was a mentor as a writer, Huffington began writing books in the 1970s, with editorial help from Levin. The two traveled to music festivals around the world for the BBC and they spent summers patronizing three-star restaurants in France. At the age of 30, she remained deeply in love him but longed to have children. Huffington concluded that she had to break away and moved to New York in 1980, in 1979, Huffington joined Bob Langley as the co-host of BBC1s late night talk and entertainment show Saturday Night At The Mill, appearing in 12 editions before being dropped from the programme. In 1973, Arianna wrote a book titled The Female Woman, attacking the Womens Liberation movement in general, in 1979, Polydor Records released a solo album by Irene Papas entitled Odes, with music performed by Vangelis Papathanassiou. The words for the album were co-written by Arianna Stassinopoulos, in the late 1980s, Huffington wrote several articles for National Review. In 1981, she wrote a biography of Maria Callas, Maria Callas – The Woman Behind the Legend, and in 1989, Huffington rose to national U. S. prominence during the unsuccessful Senate bid in 1994 by her then husband, Michael Huffington, a Republican. She became known as a supporter of conservative causes such as Newt Gingrichs Republican Revolution

7.
Ratan Tata
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Ratan Naval Tata, GBE is an Indian businessman, investor, philanthropist and former chairman of Tata Sons. He was the chairman of Tata Group, a Mumbai-based global business conglomerate from 1991 till 2012 and again from 24 October 2016 for interim term and he is the recipient of two of the highest civilian awards of India–Padma Vibhushan and Padma Bhushan. He is an alumnus of the prestigious Cathedral and John Connon School, Bishop Cotton School, Ratan Tata is the son of Naval Tata, who had been adopted from J. N. Petit Parsi Orphanage by Navajbai Tata. His parents Naval and Sonoo separated in the mid-1940s when he was ten and his younger brother, both he and his brother were raised by their grandmother Navajbai Tata. He has a half-brother Noel Tata from Naval Tatas second marriage to Simone Tata and he schooled in Mumbai and Shimla, at the Cathedral and John Connon School and Bishop Cotton School. He received a B. S. degree in architecture with structural engineering from Cornell University in 1962, Tata began his career in the Tata group in 1961. He started on the floor of Tata Steel, shovelling limestone. He could not turn around companies, NELCO and Empress Mills. In 1991, J. R. D. Tata stepped down as chairman of Tata Sons, innovation was given priority and younger talent was infused and given responsibilities. During the 21 years he led the Tata Group, revenues grew over 40 times, where sales of the group as a whole, overwhelmingly came from commodities when he took over, the majority sales came from brands when he exited. He boldly got Tata Tea to acquire Tetley, Tata Motors to acquire Jaguar Land Rover, all this turned Tata from a largely India-centric group into a global business, with over 65% revenues coming from operations and sales in over 100 countries. He conceptualised the Tata Nano car, on 24 October 2016, Cyrus Mistry was removed as the Chairman of Tata Sons and Ratan Tata was made interim chairman. The decision went through intense media scrutiny that made many scrutinize the root causes of the removal. On 12 January 2017 Natarajan Chandrasekaran was named as the Chairman of Tata Sons, Ratan Tata has been making small investments in both early and late stage companies in India. He made investments of INR0.95 Cr in Ola Cabs, in April 2015, it was reported that Tata had acquired a stake in Chinese smartphone startup Xiaomi, with specific terms undisclosed. In Jan 2016, it was reported that Ratan Tata invested in an online Pet care portal called Dogspot, in the fall of 2010, HBS Tata related companies and charities donated $50 million for the construction of an executive center. The executive center have been named as Tata Hall, after Ratan Tata, the total construction costs have been estimated at $100 million. The Tata Hall is located in the northeast corner of the HBS campus and it is seven stories tall with about 150,000 gross square feet

8.
Ansari X Prize
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It was modeled after early 20th-century aviation prizes, and aimed to spur development of low-cost spaceflight. $10 million was awarded to the winner, and more than $100 million was invested in new technologies in pursuit of the prize, several other X Prizes have since been announced by the X Prize Foundation, promoting further development in space exploration and other technological fields. In reading the book, The Spirit of St. Louis during 1994, Peter Diamandis realized that such a prize, as a space prize, might be just what was needed to bring space travel to the general public, to jump-start a commercial space industry. Diamandis developed a fully formed idea for a suborbital space barnstorming prize, the X Prize was first publicly proposed by Diamandis in an address to the NSS International Space Development Conference in 1995. The competition goal was adopted from the SpaceCub project, demonstration of a vehicle capable of flying a pilot to the edge of space. This goal was selected to help encourage the industry in the private sector. It aimed to demonstrate that spaceflight can be affordable and accessible to corporations and civilians, opening the door to commercial spaceflight, NASA is developing a similar prize program called Centennial Challenges to generate innovative solutions to space technology problems. — website Len Cormiers PanAero, Inc, some sources mention two other companies, AeroAstro* Cerulean Freight Forwarding Co. but do not mention Whalen Aeronautics Inc. The Tier One project made two competitive flights, X1 on September 29,2004, piloted by Mike Melvill to 102.9 km. They thus won the prize, which was awarded on November 6,2004, as of 2011, the trophy is on display in the Saint Louis Science Center in St. Louis, Missouri. It was the first flight of a monopropellant rocket. They have not announced a revised timetable, on August 8,2004, Space Transport Corporations Rubicon 1 and Armadillo Aerospaces unnamed test vehicle, in two separate unmanned test launches, both crashed and were destroyed. On February 15,2005, AERA Corporation announced its plans to send seven paying passengers into space as early as 2006, anousheh Ansari and Amir Ansari, the official sponsors of the competition. First USA, US$1,000,000 New Spirit of St. Louis Organization Danforth Foundation, US$500,000 Tom Clancy, mcDonnell Andrew Taylor Andrew Beal St. The Foundation has developed into a non-profit prize institute that conceives, designs, the funding for the US$10,000,000 prize was unconventional in being backed by an insurance policy to guarantee that the $10 million is in place on the day that the prize is won. Diamandis referred to this as an insurance policy. The success of the X Prize competition has spurred spin-offs that are set up in the same way, an independent spin-off called the N-Prize was started by Cambridge Microbiologist Paul H. Dear in 2007, designed to research into low-cost orbital launchers

9.
Orteig Prize
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The Orteig Prize was a reward offered to the first Allied aviator to fly non-stop from New York City to Paris or vice versa. Several famous aviators made unsuccessful attempts at the New York–Paris flight before the relatively unknown American Charles Lindbergh won the prize in 1927 in his aircraft Spirit of St. Louis, however a number of lives were lost by men who were competing to win the prize. Six men died in three separate crashes, and another three were injured in a fourth crash, the Prize occasioned considerable investment in aviation, sometimes many times the value of the prize itself, and advancing public interest and the level of aviation technology. The Orteig Prize was a $25,000 reward offered on May 22,1919, the offer was in the spirit of several similar aviation prize offers, and was made in a letter to Alan Ramsay Hawley, president of the Aero Club of America. Yours very sincerely, Raymond Orteig The Aero Club replied on May 26 with Orteig confirming his offer three days later and his offer was accepted by the Aero Club who set up a formal structure to administer the competition. On offer for five years, the goal of the prize seemed beyond the capacity of aircraft of the time, by then the state of aviation technology had advanced to the point that numerous competitors vied for the prize. In 1926 the first serious attempt on the prize was made by a led by French flying ace René Fonck, backed by Igor Sikorsky. Sikorsky, who put $100,000 towards the attempt, built an aircraft, the S-35, for the purpose, however the aircraft was hopelessly overloaded and crashed in flames attempting to take off. Fonck and his co-pilot, Curtin, survived, but his companions, Clavier, by 1927 three groups in the United States and one in Europe were known to be preparing attempts on the prize. Aviators Clarence Chamberlin and Bert Acosta, backed by Charlie Levine, in April 1927 the various teams assembled and prepared for their attempts, but all suffered mishaps. Chamberlin and Acosta undertook a series of flights, increasing Columbias weight as they went to test the aircrafts capability and they also simulated the duration of the flight, setting an endurance record in the process. Wanamaker had the Roosevelt Field improved while Byrd had a built for America to roll down on takeoff. However, on 8 April Byrds team, in America, crashed during a test flight, Bennet was injured, on 26 April Davis and Wooster, in American Legion, also crashed on a test flight, this time both were killed. Lindbergh had chosen to fly solo, although this was not a requirement of the prize, following a period of bad weather, and before it had sufficiently cleared, Lindbergh took off for Paris, stealing a march on his rivals. Lindbergh pursued a strategy for the competition, instead of using a tri-motor, as favored by most other groups. The decision allowed him to save weight and carry extra fuel as a reserve for detours or emergencies and he also decided to fly the aircraft solo, so avoiding the personality conflicts that helped delay at least one group. The final factor in his success was his decision to fly into weather conditions that were clearing, Lindbergh was quoted as saying What kind of man would live where there is no danger. I dont believe in taking foolish chances, but nothing can be accomplished by not taking a chance at all

10.
Raymond Orteig
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Raymond Orteig was the New York City hotel owner who offered the Orteig Prize for the first non-stop transatlantic flight between New York City and Paris. Orteig was born in the south of France, in the village of Louvie-Juzon in southern France in the region of Béarn and he started working as a bar porter at Wenglers Restaurant on William Street, New York City. Gaining experience he moved on to a position as waiter and then as a maitred at Martin Hotel on University Place on Ninth Street. By the time the owner Jean-Baptiste Martin moved uptown in 1902 Orteig was in a position to buy the hotel, in conjunction with a partner he was also able to lease the rundown Brevoort Hotel on the northeast corner of Fifth Avenue and Eight Street in Greenwich Village). After the end of the World War I whenever he could he and this lifelong interest in the region of his birth lead to him expanding his business interests by the purchase of the Henri IV Hotel in Pau. By his mid fifties Ortieg was in semi-retirement with daily operations at his establishments under the management of his three sons and his business partner Elie Daution, in 1925 the partnership undertook a $200,000 refurbishment of the Brevoort Hotel. His support of and numerous charitable activities made him a figure in New York Citys French community. This led to him being made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, in 1919 he attended a dinner in New York City organised by the Aero Club of America in early 1919 honouring the American flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker. Many of the speeches involved Franco-American friendship and Rickenbacher had looked forward to the day that the two countries were linked by air. Inspired by Rickenbachers speech Orteig offered a prize of $25,000 to the first person of any Allied country to fly in one flight in either direction between New York City and Paris. The offer was made in a letter to Alan Ramsay Hawley president of the Aero Club of America on Thursday 22 May 1919 and his offer was accepted by the Aero Club who set up a formal structure to administer it. The prize was valid for 5 years, Orteig and his wife were on holiday in Pau, France when he received a message from his son Raymond Jr that Charles Lindbergh had departed on his attempt. Orteig immediately travelled to Paris, arriving just before the Spirit of St. Louis touched down and he was able to meet Lindbergh at the American Embassy on 22 May 1927, eight years to the day since he had first offered the prize. Upon his depart from Paris to Belgium Lindbergh dropped a message of thanks to the citizens from the Spirit of St. Louis as he flew over the Place de la Concorde. The message was attached to a French flag, upon being retrieved the flag was presented to Orteig who displayed it on the wall of the Lafayette until his family removed it in protest at Lindberghs involvement in the America First Movement. Upon Lindberghs return to America Orteig officially presented the prize to him on 16 June 1927 at a ceremony held in the hall of the Breevort Hotel in New York City. Over the preceding decade, the Orteig Prize became an incentive and marked a major shift in aviation progress during the late 1920s. Orteig died on 6 June 1939 in French Hospital in New York City after a long illness and he was married to French American Marie Ruisquès, by whom he had three sons, Evariste, Raymond Jr and Jean

11.
Charles Lindbergh
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Charles Augustus Lindbergh, nicknamed Slim, Lucky Lindy, and The Lone Eagle, was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, explorer, and environmental activist. At age 25 in 1927, he went from obscurity as a U. S. Air Mail pilot to instantaneous world fame by making his Orteig Prize–winning nonstop flight from Long Island, New York, to Paris. He covered the 33 1⁄2-hour,3,600 statute miles alone in a single-engine purpose-built Ryan monoplane and this was the first solo transatlantic flight, and the first non-stop flight between North America and mainland Europe. Lindbergh was an officer in the U. S. Army Air Corps Reserve, and he received the United States highest military decoration and his achievement spurred interest in both commercial aviation and air mail, and Lindbergh himself devoted much time and effort to promoting such activity. Lindberghs historic flight and instantaneous world fame led to tragedy, in March 1932, his infant son, Charles Jr. was kidnapped and murdered in what was widely called the Crime of the Century and described by H. L. Mencken as the biggest story since the resurrection. The case prompted the United States Congress to upgrade kidnapping from a crime to a federal crime once the kidnapper had crossed state lines with his victim. By late 1935 the hysteria surrounding the case had driven the Lindbergh family into exile in Europe. Before the United States formally entered World War II, some people accused Lindbergh of being a fascist sympathizer, in his later years, Lindbergh became a prolific prize-winning author, international explorer, inventor, and environmentalist. Lindbergh had six children with his wife Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Lindbergh was born in Detroit, Michigan, on February 4,1902, and spent most of his childhood in Little Falls, Minnesota, and Washington, D. C. Charles parents separated in 1909 when he was seven, congressman from 1907 to 1917, was one of the relatively few Congressmen to oppose the entry of the U. S. into World War I. Lindberghs mother was a teacher at Cass Technical High School in Detroit. Lindbergh also attended over a dozen schools from Washington, D. C. From an early age, Lindbergh had exhibited an interest in the mechanics of motorized transportation, including his familys Saxon Six automobile, and later his Excelsior motorbike. By the time he started college as an engineering student, he had also become fascinated with flying. A few days later Lindbergh took his first formal flying lesson in that same machine and he also briefly worked as an airplane mechanic at the Billings, Montana municipal airport. With the onset of winter, however, Lindbergh left flying, though Lindbergh had not touched an airplane in more than six months, he had already secretly decided he was ready to take to the air by himself. After a half-hour of dual time with a pilot who was visiting the field to pick up another surplus JN-4, Lindbergh flew solo for the first time in the Jenny he had just purchased for $500. After spending another week or so at the field to practice, Lindbergh took off from Americus for Montgomery, Alabama, some 140 miles to the west and he went on to spend much of the rest of 1923 engaged in almost nonstop barnstorming under the name of Daredevil Lindbergh

12.
Spirit of St. Louis
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The Spirit of St. Claude Ryan, in 1926. The Spirit is now on permanent display in the main entryways Milestones of Flight gallery at the Smithsonian Institutions National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D. C. It is known, however, that Hawley Bowlus was the manager who oversaw construction of the Ryan NYP. Hall and Ryan Airlines staff worked closely with Lindbergh to design, although what was actually paid to Ryan Airlines for the project is not clear, Mahoney offered to do it at cost. Mahoney was away from the factory, but Ryan answered, Can build plane similar M-1, Lindbergh wired back that due to competition, delivery in less than three months was essential. Many years later, Jon van der Linde, chief mechanic of Ryan Airlines, recalled, But nothing fazed B. F. Mahoney, Mahoney telegraphed Lindbergh back the same day, Can complete in two months. Lindbergh arrived in San Diego on February 23 and toured the factory with Mahoney meeting factory manager, Bowlus, chief engineer Donald Hall, and sales manager A. J. After further discussions between Mahoney, Hall and Lindbergh, Mahoney offered to build the Spirit for $10,580, Lindbergh himself contributed $2,000 toward the cost of the Spirit that he had saved from his earnings as an Air Mail pilot for Robertson Aircraft Corporation. Lindbergh was convinced, I believe in Halls ability, I like Mahoneys enthusiasm, I have confidence in the character of the workmen Ive met. He then went to the airfield to familiarize himself with a Ryan aircraft, either an M-1 or an M-2, then telegraphed his St. Louis backers and recommended the deal, Mahoney lived up to his commitment. Working exclusively on the aircraft and closely with Lindbergh, the completed the Spirit of St. Louis 60 days after Lindbergh arrived in San Diego. Powered by a Wright Whirlwind J-5C 223-hp radial engine, it had a 14 m wingspan,3 m longer than the M-1, Lindbergh believed that multiple engines resulted in a greater risk of failure while a single engine design would give him greater range. To increase fuel efficiency, the Spirit of St. Louis was also one of the most advanced, Lindbergh believed that a flight made in a single-seat monoplane designed around the dependable Wright J-5C Whirlwind radial engine provided the best chance of success. The Ryan NYP had a fuel capacity of 450 U. S. gallons or 2,710 pounds of gasoline. The fuel was stored in five tanks, a forward tank, the main. At Lindberghs request, the main and forward fuel tanks were placed in the forward section of the fuselage, in front of the pilot. This arrangement improved the center of gravity and reduced the risk of the pilot being crushed to death between the tank and the engine in the event of a crash. This design decision meant that there could be no front windshield, and this did not concern Lindbergh as he was used to flying in the rear cockpit of mail planes with mail bags in the front

13.
Mojave Aerospace Ventures
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Mojave Aerospace Ventures is a company founded by Paul Allen and Burt Rutan to handle the commercial spinoffs from the Tier One project. It owns the intellectual property arising from Tier One, and it is in turn owned by Paul Allen, in 2004, it signed a deal with Virgin Galactic to develop the Virgin SpaceShip, a suborbital spacecraft, for space tourism. Virgin Group and Scaled have subsequently formed a joint venture, The Spaceship Company, the structure of Mojave Aerospace Ventures appears to be the basis of the deal between Allen and Rutan for the funding of Tier One. The company owns all the property of the Tier One project, such as patents. Allen, the source of funding for Tier One, is the majority owner. Rutan, having developed the technology, owns a minority stake and this stands in contrast to the company more usually associated with Tier One, Scaled Composites, which, as of 2007, is owned by Northrop Grumman. MAV serves to separate Tier One spinoffs from Scaled Composites, Mojave Aerospace Ventures is part of Allens Vulcan Aerospace. On September 25,2004 MAV agreed on a joint venture with Richard Bransons newly formed company Virgin Galactic, the initial plan is to build five Virgin SpaceShips, based on scaling up the SpaceShipOne design. The spacecraft would be manufactured by The Spaceship Company, the designs for the Tier 1b customer suborbital spaceflight vehicles are referred to as SpaceShipTwo and its carrier aircraft is White Knight Two. A further application of the Tier One technology is for Allens Stratolaunch Systems with its Stratolaunch carrier aircraft Roc

14.
SpaceShipOne
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SpaceShipOne is an experimental air-launched rocket-powered aircraft with suborbital flight capability at speeds of up to 900 m/s, using a hybrid rocket motor. SpaceShipOne completed the first manned spaceflight in 2004. That same year, it won the US$10 million Ansari X Prize and was retired from active service. Its mother ship was named White Knight, both craft were developed and flown by Mojave Aerospace Ventures, which was a joint venture between Paul Allen and Scaled Composites, Burt Rutans aviation company. Allen provided the funding of approximately US$25 million, Rutan has indicated that ideas about the project began as early as 1994 and the full-time development cycle time to the 2004 accomplishments was about three years. The vehicle first achieved supersonic flight on December 17,2003, SpaceShipOnes first official spaceflight, known as flight 15P, was piloted by Mike Melvill. A few days before that flight, the Mojave Air and Space Port was the first commercial spaceport licensed in the United States, a few hours after that flight, Melvill became the first licensed U. S. commercial astronaut. The overall project name was Tier One which has evolved into Tier 1b with a goal of taking a ships first passengers into space within the next few days. The achievements of SpaceShipOne are more comparable to the X-15 than orbiting spacecraft like the Space Shuttle, accelerating a spacecraft to orbital speed requires more than 60 times as much energy as accelerating it to Mach 3. It would also require a heat shield to safely dissipate that energy during re-entry. SpaceShipOnes official model designation is Scaled Composites Model 316.52 m, the main structure is of a graphite/epoxy composite material. From front to back, it contains the cabin, oxidizer tank, fuel casing. The craft has short, wide wings, with a span of 5 m, there are large vertical tailbooms mounted on the end of each wing, with horizontal stabilisers protruding from the tailbooms. It has gear for horizontal landings, the overall mass of the fully fueled craft is 3,600 kg, of which 2,700 kg is taken by the fully loaded rocket motor. Empty mass of the spacecraft is 1,200 kg, including the 300 kg empty motor casing, originally the nozzle protruded from the back, but this turned out to be aerodynamically disadvantageous. In June 2004, between flights 14P and 15P, a fairing was added, smoothly extending the fuselage shape to meet the end of the nozzle. On flight 15P the new fairing overheated, due to being black on the inside and facing a hot, the fairing softened, and the lower part crumpled inwards during boost. Following that flight the interior of the fairing was painted white, the craft has a single unsteerable and unthrottleable hybrid rocket motor, a cold gas reaction control system, and aerodynamic control surfaces

15.
Saint Louis Science Center
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In 1991, it was the most visited science center in the world. As of 2007, the complex hosts 1.2 million visitors each year, with another 200,000 served through offsite programs at schools, the first building of the current complex, the Planetarium, opened in 1963, hosting about 300,000 visitors per year. In 1983, it was combined with an existing Museum of Science and Natural History that had been located in Clayton, Missouri, and the Planetarium was renamed as the Saint Louis Science Center. In 1991, a major expansion increased the size of the facility seven-fold, adding a main building and Omnimax theater across Interstate 64 from the Planetarium. In 1997, a building, the Exploradome, was added next to the main building, and in 2003. Admission to the Science Center is free through a subsidy from the Metropolitan Zoological Park. The Center is one of two science centers in the United States which offers free general admission. Over the next century, this grew into a more formal Museum of Science and Natural History which in 1959 was located in Oak Knoll Park in Clayton, Missouri. Funding for the first structure of the current campus began in 1955, two years were spent surveying locations. The first proposed site, on the side of Forest Park near the Jefferson Memorial Building at Lindell. The location was changed to the part of the park, on the site of the old mounted police station. The plan was to build a planetarium, science museum, the Planetarium was designed by Gyo Obata of Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum with a unique shape. Architectural Forum magazine described it as, Looking like some strange craft spun down to earth from outer space, St. Louiss new planetarium perches gracefully on a rise in. But the bond funding proved insufficient for construction, opening day was April 1,1963, and the first star show that month had a capacity audience of more than 400. The building was dedicated was on May 30,1963, public interest in the space race was high, as John Glenn had become the first American to orbit the Earth in February 1962. The Science Center recorded more than 100,000 visitors in its first four months, on the day that a full-scale replica of the Apollo space capsule was put on display,3,000 visitors came through the doors. Over the next years, average attendance was 300,000 per year. The planetarium broke even during its first year, but then lost $30,000 to $50,000 each year, the facility was named after him in 1964

16.
St. Louis
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St. Louis is an independent city and major U. S. port in the state of Missouri, built along the western bank of the Mississippi River, on the border with Illinois. Prior to European settlement, the area was a regional center of Native American Mississippian culture. The city of St. Louis was founded in 1764 by French fur traders Pierre Laclède and Auguste Chouteau, in 1764, following Frances defeat in the Seven Years War, the area was ceded to Spain and retroceded back to France in 1800. In 1803, the United States acquired the territory as part of the Louisiana Purchase, during the 19th century, St. Louis developed as a major port on the Mississippi River. In the 1870 Census, St. Louis was ranked as the 4th-largest city in the United States and it separated from St. Louis County in 1877, becoming an independent city and limiting its own political boundaries. In 1904, it hosted the Louisiana Purchase Exposition and the Summer Olympics, the economy of metro St. Louis relies on service, manufacturing, trade, transportation of goods, and tourism. This city has become known for its growing medical, pharmaceutical. St. Louis has 2 professional sports teams, the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball, the city is commonly identified with the 630-foot tall Gateway Arch in Downtown St. Louis. The area that would become St. Louis was a center of the Native American Mississippian culture and their major regional center was at Cahokia Mounds, active from 900 AD to 1500 AD. Due to numerous major earthworks within St. Louis boundaries, the city was nicknamed as the Mound City and these mounds were mostly demolished during the citys development. Historic Native American tribes in the area included the Siouan-speaking Osage people, whose territory extended west, European exploration of the area was first recorded in 1673, when French explorers Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette traveled through the Mississippi River valley. Five years later, La Salle claimed the region for France as part of La Louisiane. The earliest European settlements in the area were built in Illinois Country on the east side of the Mississippi River during the 1690s and early 1700s at Cahokia, Kaskaskia, migrants from the French villages on the opposite side of the Mississippi River founded Ste. In early 1764, after France lost the 7 Years War, Pierre Laclède, the early French families built the citys economy on the fur trade with the Osage, as well as with more distant tribes along the Missouri River. The Chouteau brothers gained a monopoly from Spain on the fur trade with Santa Fe, French colonists used African slaves as domestic servants and workers in the city. In 1780 during the American Revolutionary War, St. Louis was attacked by British forces, mostly Native American allies, the founding of St. Louis began in 1763. Pierre Laclede led an expedition to set up a fur-trading post farther up the Mississippi River, before then, Laclede had been a very successful merchant. For this reason, he and his trading partner Gilbert Antoine de St. Maxent were offered monopolies for six years of the fur trading in that area

17.
X Prize Cup
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This led to plans to build the worlds first true rocket festival. Three X-Prize Cups have been held, in 2005,2006 and 2007, each X Prize Cup hosts different events and demonstrations, such as rocket-powered bicycles, rocket jet packs, but particularly notable are the Lunar Lander Challenge and the Space Elevator Games. 85,000 visitors attended the 2007 X Prize Cup, although there was no X Prize Cup in 2009, there was a Lunar Lander Challenge. This X Prize was first proposed by Dr. Peter Diamandis in an address to the NSS International Space Development Conference in 1995. The notion of a goal was adopted from the SpaceCub project, demonstration of a private vehicle capable of flying a pilot to the edge of space. This goal was selected to help encourage the industry in the private sector. The X Prize Cup aimed to demonstrate that spaceflight can be affordable and accessible to corporations and civilians, opening the door to commercial spaceflight and it is also hoped that competition will breed innovation to develop new low-cost methods of reaching Earth orbit. The X Prize Cup offers monetary rewards and organizational support to the community of aerospace professionals—and by staging Earths great space exposition, NASA is developing similar prize programs called Centennial Challenges to generate innovative solutions to space technology problems. It was modeled after early 20th-century aviation prizes, and aimed to spur development of low-cost spaceflight, the prize was won on October 4,2004, the 47th anniversary of the Sputnik 1 launch, by the Tier One project using the experimental spaceplane SpaceShipOne. The success and popularity of this event lead to the events which were called the X-PRIZE Cup. The 2006 Wirefly X Prize Cup focused on rocketry and lunar landing technology, the exposition also featured high-powered rocket launches and exhibits intended to boost public interest in aerospace technology. In December 2006, the Cups organizers announced expansion plans based on the success of the October event, with the success of the original X Prize competition, the open competitions for $2.5 million in monetary prizes were the highlight of the 2006 Wirefly X Prize Cup. The aerospace teams in Las Cruces fought for the top prize in three events—the Lunar Lander Challenge, the Vertical Rocket Challenge, and the Space Elevator Games, in addition to the featured competitions, the Wirefly X Prize Cup included a series of rocketry exhibitions and educational presentations. Rocketman Dan Schlund demonstrated his Rocketbelt, a device allows him to soar above the earth with a rocket strapped to his back. The Rocket Racing League debuted the Mark-1 X-Racer, a preview of next-generation motor sports, other attractions included high-powered rocket launches, a student competition, a symposium on personal spaceflight, and an assortment of ground displays and simulators. The 2007 X Prize Cup, was held at Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo, NM, aircraft as well as rockets were featured at the event, along with the Lunar Lander Challenge. No other competitor was able to even a successful first leg of the competition. The Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge is intended to accelerate the development of a vehicle capable of launching from the surface of the Moon to lunar orbit

18.
Archon Genomics XPRIZE
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The 30 day evaluation phase of the competition to begin on September 5,2013, was canceled August 22,2013 and this cancellation was debated on March 27,2014. The $10 million was donated by Canadian geologist and philanthropist Stewart Blusson, the name Archon is the name of Blussons company, which refers to the type of lithosphere beneath northern Canada. Upon cancellation, the money was returned to the Blussons because no Master Team Agreements were in place, the Archon X Prize in genomics began as a joint effort of the X Prize Foundation and the J. Craig Venter Science Foundation. The 100 human genomes to be sequenced in this competition were donated by 100 centenarians from all over the world and these centenarians’ genes would provide us with a window to the past, significantly impacting the future of healthcare. Although the contest is cancelled, the X PRIZE foundation collected blood samples and those genomes are expected to be sequenced nonetheless and put into an open data forum. The two officially registered teams were Ion Torrent in Guilford, CT and Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering in Boston MA and these teams were announced 23-Jul-2012 and 3-Oct-2012. This global competition was expected to inspire breakthrough genome sequencing innovations, a public debate concerning the validity and potential implications of the cancellation was published March 27,2014

19.
Mike Melvill
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Michael Winston Mike Melvill is a world-record-breaking pilot and one of the test pilots for SpaceShipOne, the experimental spaceplane developed by Scaled Composites. Melvill piloted SpaceShipOne on its first flight past the edge of space, flight 15P on June 21,2004, thus becoming the first commercial astronaut and he was also the pilot on SpaceShipOnes flight 16P, the first competitive flight in the Ansari X Prize competition. Mike Melvill grew up in Durban, South Africa and attended Hilton College, in 1978, he met aerospace designer and Scaled Composites founder Burt Rutan when he flew to California to show Rutan the VariViggen he had built at his home. Rutan then hired him on the spot, in 1982, he was named Rutans lead test pilot. In 1997, Melvill and Dick Rutan, Burts brother, flew two Long-Eze aircraft that they built side-by-side around the world and this around the world in 80 nights flight was called The Spirit of EAA Friendship World Tour, and some legs of it lasted for over 14 hours. Later in his career he became Vice President/General Manager at Scaled Composites, Melvill is the sole or joint holder of nine FAI aviation world records in various categories. He was awarded the Iven C, kincheloe Award in 1999 for high altitude, developmental flight-testing of the model 281 Proteus aircraft. Through SpaceShipOne flight 15P in 2004, he is known as the first privately funded human spaceflight mission pilot to reach space

20.
SpaceShipOne flight 15P
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Flight 15P of SpaceShipOne was the first privately funded human spaceflight. It took place on June 21,2004 and it was the fourth powered test flight of the Tier One program, the previous three test flights having reached much lower altitudes. The flight carried only its pilot, Mike Melvill, who became the first non-governmental astronaut. This flight was a full-altitude test, but not itself a competitive flight for the Ansari X Prize, problems were encountered during the flight, but later corrected, paving the way for SpaceShipOne to make competitive flights later in 2004. All times are in PDT, which is seven hours behind UTC and this was the local civil time at the spaceport on the day of the flight. All measurements are first stated in the U. S. customary units in which they were originally reported, taxiing for takeoff from Mojave Spaceport was originally planned for 06,30, because the wind conditions in that area are most favorable in the early morning. Taxiing actually started at 06,37, and the flight took off at 06,47, after an ascent to 47,000 feet coupled with the White Knight airplane, the SpaceShipOne craft separated at 07,50 and immediately ignited its rocket. Shortly after ignition, at about 60,000 feet, the craft unexpectedly rolled 90 degrees to the left, when the pilot attempted to correct it, it rolled 90 degrees to the right. The pilot levelled the craft out, and proceeded with the climb, the correction of the roll excursion, using full trim, caused a pitch trim tab to run up against a stop. This caused the trim actuator, as designed, to stop operating for a 3 s timeout, not realising what had happened, the pilot and controllers interpreted this as failure of the trim actuator, and they switched to a backup system. Spacecraft attitude was problematic during the climb, and not corrected until the start of re-entry. During the burn, a new aerodynamic fairing installed around the rocket nozzle overheated, became too soft and this caused a loud bang, which the pilot reported, but did not cause a flight problem. The rocket burn lasted for 76 seconds, at burn-out the altitude was 180,000 feet, the Mach number was 2.9, and the speed was 2150 mph. The planned apogee altitude was 360,000 feet, but due to the problem encountered during the climb the craft actually attained only 328,491 feet. In doing so it passed the boundary to space at 100 km, making the flight, as planned and it can be calculated that the altitude exceeded 100 km for approximately 10.23 s. Around apogee the craft experienced about 3 1⁄2 minutes of weightlessness, pilot Mike Melvill opened a bag of M&Ms and watched them float around the capsule in free fall. The craft re-entered the atmosphere 22 miles south of its planned 5 by 5 mile re-entry zone, the pilot finally corrected the spacecraft attitude at this point, using a backup trim system. The craft reached Mach 2.9 and experienced deceleration of 5.0 g during descent, the craft switched to gliding configuration at an altitude of 57,000 feet, then returned to the spaceport and landed safely at 08,14

21.
Burt Rutan
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Elbert Leander Burt Rutan is a retired American aerospace engineer noted for his originality in designing light, strong, unusual-looking, energy-efficient aircraft. With his VariEze design, Rutan is responsible for popularizing the canard configuration, Rutan has five aircraft on display in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D. C. United States, SpaceShipOne, the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer, Voyager, Quickie, born in 1943 in Estacada, Oregon,30 miles southeast of Portland, and raised in Dinuba, California, Burt Rutan displayed an early interest in aircraft design. By the time he was eight years old he was designing and building model aircraft and his first solo flight piloting an airplane was in an Aeronca Champ in 1959. In 1965 he graduated third in his class from the California Polytechnic State University with a BS degree in aeronautical engineering and he left to become Director of Development of the BD-5 aircraft for Bede Aircraft in Newton, Kansas, a position he held until 1974. In June 1974, Rutan returned to California to establish the Rutan Aircraft Factory, in this business he designed and developed prototypes for several aircraft, mostly intended for amateur builders. His first design, executed while he was still at Bede, was the VariViggen, the canard would become a feature of many Rutan designs, notably the very popular VariEze and Long-EZ. In April 1982, Rutan founded Scaled Composites, LLC, which has one of the worlds pre-eminent aircraft design. Scaled Composites is headquartered in Mojave, California, at the Mojave Air & Space Port and that same year, Beechcraft contracted Rutans Scaled Composites to refine the design and build the prototype Beechcraft Starship. In a 2010 interview, Rutan articulated his motivation for developing suborbital technology projects with SpaceShipOne and he was developing suborbital spaceflight technology because in this we can achieve some breakthroughs, making such flight orders of magnitude safer and orders of magnitude more affordable. Rutan is married to Tonya Rutan and he retired from Scaled Composites in April 2011. That same year, he recognized as a Living Legend of Aviation. In 2012, Rutan spoke on Innovation and the Space Race to the World Affairs Council, flying magazine ranked him at number 18 on their 2013 list,51 Heroes of Aviation. Rutan was also a recipient of the prestigious Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy in 2015, in a 45-year career, each of Rutans designs have often been quite dissimilar from their predecessors. His airplanes and spacecraft take on all types of shapes and sizes. In all, Rutan has come up with 367 individual concepts — of which 45 have flown, VariViggen and VariViggen SP In 1968, he began building his first design, the VariViggen, which first flew in April 1972. It had the wing, forward canard, and pusher configuration design elements which became his trademarks. In lieu of wind tunnel testing, Rutan developed aerodynamic parameters for the VariViggen using a model rigged atop his station wagon, the VariViggen was the Rutan model 27

22.
Paul Allen
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Paul Gardner Allen is an American business magnate, investor and philanthropist. He is best known as the co-founder of Microsoft, alongside Bill Gates, as of August 2016, he was estimated to be the 40th richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of $18.6 billion. Allen is the founder and Chairman of Vulcan Inc. which manages his various business, Allen also has a multibillion-dollar investment portfolio including technology and media companies, real estate holdings, and stakes in other companies. He owns two sports teams, the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League and the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association. He is also part-owner of the Seattle Sounders FC, which joined Major League Soccer in 2009 and he is also the founder of Allen Institute for Brain Science, Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Institute for Cell Science, and Vulcan Aerospace. Paul Allen was born on January 21,1953 in Seattle, Washington to Kenneth Sam Allen, Allen attended Lakeside School, a private school in Seattle, where he befriended Bill Gates, three years younger, with whom he shared an enthusiasm for computers. They used Lakesides Teletype terminal to develop their skills on several time-sharing computer systems. Allen later convinced Gates to drop out of Harvard University in order to create Microsoft, Gates explained his official status with Harvard that. if things hadnt worked out, I could always go back to school. In Albuquerque, New Mexico, Paul Allen with his friend Bill Gates, in 1975, Allen came up with the original name of Micro-Soft, as recounted in a 1995 Fortune magazine article. As a result of this transaction, Microsoft was able to secure a contract to supply the DOS that would run on IBMs PC line. This contract with IBM was the watershed in Microsoft history that led to Allens and Gates wealth, Allen effectively left Microsoft in 1982 due to serious illness. Vulcan Capital is an investment-arm of Allens Seattle-based Vulcan Inc. which manages his personal fortune, in 2013, Allen opened a new Vulcan Capital office in Palo Alto, California to focus on making new investments in emerging technology and internet companies. Recent investments include Redfin, Decide. com and Audience Inc, patents, Paul Allen holds 43 patents from the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The startup behind the mobile app Saga, SportStream, an app for sports fans. Ticketmaster, In 1993, Paul Allen invested $243 million to acquire 80% of Ticketmaster, in 1997, Home Shopping Network acquired 47. 5% of Allens stock in exchange for $209 million worth of their own stock. Allen confirmed that he was the investor behind Burt Rutans Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne suborbital commercial spacecraft on October 4,2004. SpaceShipOne climbed to an altitude of 377,591 feet and was the first privately funded effort to put a civilian in suborbital space. It won the Ansari X Prize competition and received the $10 million prize, on December 13,2011, Allen announced the creation of Stratolaunch Systems

23.
Outer space
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Outer space or just space, is the void that exists between celestial bodies, including Earth. The baseline temperature, as set by the radiation from the Big Bang, is 2.7 kelvins. In most galaxies, observations provide evidence that 90% of the mass is in a form, called dark matter. Data indicates that the majority of the mass-energy in the universe is a poorly understood vacuum energy of space which astronomers label dark energy. Intergalactic space takes up most of the volume of the Universe, there is no firm boundary where outer space starts. However the Kármán line, at an altitude of 100 km above sea level, is used as the start of outer space in space treaties. The framework for international law was established by the Outer Space Treaty. This treaty precludes any claims of sovereignty and permits all states to freely explore outer space. Despite the drafting of UN resolutions for the uses of outer space. Humans began the exploration of space during the 20th century with the advent of high-altitude balloon flights. Earth orbit was first achieved by Yuri Gagarin of the Soviet Union in 1961, due to the high cost of getting into space, manned spaceflight has been limited to low Earth orbit and the Moon. Outer space represents an environment for human exploration because of the dual hazards of vacuum. Microgravity also has an effect on human physiology that causes both muscle atrophy and bone loss. In addition to health and environmental issues, the economic cost of putting objects, including humans. In 350 BCE, Greek philosopher Aristotle suggested that nature abhors a vacuum and this concept built upon a 5th-century BCE ontological argument by the Greek philosopher Parmenides, who denied the possible existence of a void in space. Based on this idea that a vacuum could not exist, in the West it was held for many centuries that space could not be empty. As late as the 17th century, the French philosopher René Descartes argued that the entirety of space must be filled, in ancient China, there were various schools of thought concerning the nature of the heavens, some of which bear a resemblance to the modern understanding. In the 2nd century, astronomer Zhang Heng became convinced that space must be infinite, extending well beyond the mechanism that supported the Sun, the surviving books of the Hsüan Yeh school said that the heavens were boundless, empty and void of substance

24.
Brian Binnie
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William Brian Binnie is a former United States Navy officer and is one of the test pilots for SpaceShipOne, the experimental spaceplane developed by Scaled Composites. Binnie was born in West Lafayette, Indiana, where his Scottish father William P. Binnie was a professor of physics at Purdue University, the family returned to Scotland when Binnie was five, and lived in Aberdeen and later in Stirling. When Binnie was a teenager the family moved to Boston, Binnie, an alumnus of Brown and Princeton Universities, served for 21 years in the United States Navy as a naval aviator flying the A-7 Corsair II, A-6 Intruder, F/A-18 Hornet, and AV-8B Harrier II. He graduated from the U. S. Naval Test Pilot School in 1988, Binnie also copiloted the Atmospheric Test Vehicle of the Rotary Rocket. In 2006, he received an Honorary degree from University of Aberdeen, on October 4,2004, he piloted SpaceShipOnes second Ansari X Prize flight, flight 17P, winning the X Prize and becoming the 435th person to go into space. His flight, which peaked at 367,442 feet, set a winged aircraft altitude record and it also earned him the second set of Astronaut Wings to be given by the FAA for a flight aboard a privately operated commercial spacecraft. In 2014 Binnie joined XCOR Aerospace as senior engineer and test pilot, after working as a test pilot, Biography at Scaled Composites website Biography at SpaceFacts. de

25.
SpaceShipOne Flight 17P
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Flight 17P of SpaceShipOne was a spaceflight in the Tier One program that took place on October 4,2004. It was the second flight in the Ansari X Prize competition to demonstrate a non-governmental reusable manned spacecraft. It was a flight, winning the X PRIZE. To win the X PRIZE, a spacecraft needed to two successful competitive flights within 14 days. SpaceShipOne made a competitive flight on September 29,2004. Scaled Composites aimed to be able to fly three times within the two weeks in order to allow for a failed flight. The date of the flight, October 4,2004, was the 47th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth and the same day astronaut Gordon Cooper died. SpaceShipOnes first powered flight was, in a vein, on the 100th anniversary of the first ever powered flight by the Wright Brothers. The da Vinci Project, another X PRIZE contender, planned to make its first competitive flight on October 2,2004, however, they encountered problems and had to delay their flights. Tier One was therefore able to follow their original flight schedule, Scaled Composites reported that they could have turned the spacecraft around faster than the five days they actually allowed for it. It was anticipated by observers that Mike Melvill, the pilot on both previous spaceflights by SpaceShipOne, would pilot this flight also and this expectation was not supported by any real evidence, but was based on Melvills prior experience. On the morning of the flight it was announced that Brian Binnie would be the pilot, under Ansari X PRIZE rules, the flight was required to carry 180 kg payload, to simulate two 90 kg human passengers. Whereas Scaled Composites stated that the first competitive flight would not carry passengers and it seemed possible that Burt Rutan would be a passenger on flight 17P, but in the end he was not, since the FAA has restricted the flight to just the pilot and no passengers. This was the civil time at the spaceport on the day of the flight. The SpaceShipOne pilot was Brian Binnie, White Knight was piloted by Mike Melvill. Taxiing, scheduled for 06,30, began at 06,36, takeoff from Mojave Spaceport, scheduled for 07,00, took place at 06,49. White Knight then carried SpaceShipOne to the altitude, in excess of 43,500 feet. SpaceShipOne separated from White Knight at 07,49, and promptly ignited its rocket, the rocket motor was capable of burning for approximately 87 s

26.
Richard Branson
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Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, investor and philanthropist. He founded the Virgin Group, which more than 400 companies. Branson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneur at a young age, at the age of sixteen his first business venture was a magazine called Student. In 1970, he set up a mail-order record business, in 1972, he opened a chain of record stores, Virgin Records, later known as Virgin Megastores. Bransons Virgin brand grew rapidly during the 1980s, as he set up Virgin Atlantic airline, in March 2000, Branson was knighted at Buckingham Palace for services to entrepreneurship. For his work in retail, music and transport, his taste for adventure, in 2002 he was named in the BBCs poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. In January 2016, Forbes listed Bransons estimated net worth at $5.2 billion, Branson was born in Blackheath, London, the eldest of three children of Eve Branson, a former ballet dancer and air hostess, and Edward James Branson, a barrister. His grandfather, the Right Honourable Sir George Arthur Harwin Branson, was a judge of the High Court of Justice, Branson was educated at Scaitcliffe School, a prep school in Berkshire, before briefly attending Cliff View House School in Sussex. His third great-grandfather, John Edward Branson, left England for India in 1793 and his father, Harry Wilkins Branson, later joined him in Madras. On the show Finding Your Roots, Branson was shown to have 3. 9% South Asian DNA, Branson attended Stowe School, an independent school in Buckinghamshire until the age of sixteen. Branson has dyslexia and had poor performance, on his last day at school, his headmaster, Robert Drayson. Bransons parents were supportive of his endeavours from an early age, One of her most successful ventures was building and selling wooden tissue boxes and wastepaper bins. Branson started his business from a church where he ran Student magazine. Branson interviewed several prominent personalities of the late 1960s for the magazine including Mick Jagger, Branson advertised popular records in The Student and it was an overnight success. Trading under the name Virgin, he records for considerably less than the High Street outlets. Branson once said, There is no point in starting your own business unless you do it out of a sense of frustration, the name Virgin was suggested by one of Bransons early employees because they were all new at business. At the time, many products were sold under restrictive marketing agreements that limited discounting, Branson eventually started a record shop in Oxford Street in London. In 1971, Branson was questioned in connection with the selling of records in Virgin stores that had been declared export stock, the matter was never brought before a court because Branson agreed to repay any unpaid tax and a fine

27.
Jeff Bezos
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The company began as an Internet merchant of books and expanded to a wide variety of products and services, most recently video streaming and audio streaming. Amazon. com is currently the worlds largest Internet sales company on the World Wide Web, Bezos’s other diversified business interests include aerospace and newspapers. He is the founder and manufacturer of Blue Origin with test flights to space beginning in 2015, in 2013, Bezos purchased The Washington Post newspaper. A number of other investments are managed through Bezos Expeditions. Bezos is currently the second-richest person in the world, with a net worth of US$77.1 billion as of March 2017. His rise to this occurred after Amazon registered a 67% jump in share price. Bezos was born Jeffrey Preston Jorgensen to Jacklyn and Ted Jorgensen in Albuquerque and his maternal ancestors were settlers who lived in Texas, and over the generations acquired a 25, 000-acre ranch near Cotulla. As of March 2015, Bezos was among the largest landholders in Texas, Bezos’s maternal grandfather was a regional director of the U. S. He retired early to the ranch, where Bezos spent many summers as a youth, at an early age, he displayed mechanical aptitude—as a toddler, he even dismantled his crib with a screwdriver. Bezos’s mother Jacklyn was a teenager at the time of his birth and her marriage to Jorgensen lasted a little more than a year. In April 1968 she married her husband, Miguel Bezos. His family was originally from Valladolid, Miguel Bezos worked his way through the University of Albuquerque, married Jacklyn, and legally adopted his stepson Jeff, who changed his surname from Jorgensen to Bezos. After the wedding the family moved to Houston and Miguel worked as an engineer for Exxon, the young Jeff attended River Oaks Elementary School in Houston from fourth to sixth grade. As a child, he spent summers working on his grandfathers ranch in southern Texas, Bezos often displayed scientific interests and technological proficiency, he once rigged an electric alarm to keep his younger siblings out of his room. The family moved to Miami, Florida, where he attended Miami Palmetto High School, while in high school, he attended the Student Science Training Program at the University of Florida, receiving a Silver Knight Award in 1982. He was high school valedictorian and was a National Merit Scholar, Bezos graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Princeton University with bachelor of science degrees in electrical engineering and computer science. While at Princeton, he was elected to Tau Beta Pi. He served as the president of the Princeton chapter of the Students for the Exploration, in 2016 Bezos played a Starfleet official in the movie Star Trek Beyond, later joining the cast and crew at a San Diego Comic-Con screening

28.
Automotive X Prize
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Within the Competition Division, there are two vehicle classes, Mainstream and Alternative. The mainstream class had a prize of $5 million, the alternate class had two separate prizes of $2.5 million, one for side-by-side seating and one for tandem seating. The PIAXP has an Educational Program, funded by a $3, the winners of the competition were announced on 16 September 2010. Team Edison2 won the $5 million Mainstream competition with its four-passenger Very Light Car, Team Li-Ion Motors won the $2.5 million Alternative Side-by-Side competition with their aerodynamic Wave-II electric vehicle achieving 187 MPGe. Team X-Tracer Switzerland won the $2.5 million Alternative Tandem competition with their 205.3 MPGe faired electric motorcycle, from that point onward, it was known as the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize. At the 12 April 2007 announcement of the creation of the X Prize, the Foundation released draft Competition Guidelines, the latest guidelines were published on 10 January 2009. The competition guidelines are the product of hundreds of volunteers of the AXP, on 7 April 2009, the X Prize Foundation announced that 111 teams had registered by the February 2009 deadline. By 20 October 2009, the judging had winnowed the number of teams down to 43, with some publicly. The formal vehicle competition events began on 26 April 2010, and consisted of the four stages, Shakedown, Knockout, Finals. Within the Competition Division, there are two vehicle classes—Mainstream and Alternative—both of which have the requirements for fuel economy and emissions. The Alternative class is divided into tandem and side-by-side classes. Vehicles in the Mainstream Class must meet specifications that are derived from small, five-passenger. The Alternative Class has fewer performance and design restrictions and provides an outlet for innovation, both classes allow entries that are modifications of an existing popular vehicle, provided that all PIAXP requirements are met. Vehicles in both classes must have an economy of 100 MPGe and produce less than 200 grams/mile CO2 emissions. For electric vehicles, the CO2 emissions requirement is a more binding constraint, further, electricity consumption is measured at the plug side of the battery charging device, so it would have to achieve 114 MPGe, assuming 100% efficient battery charging. If the charger were 85% efficient, this requirement would grow to 134 MPGe, in the other words, efficiency of electric cars should be not 21 but 16 kWh/100 km. They must have the usual automotive controls, including accelerator pedal, brake pedal, steering mechanism and indicators. They must be capable, which is defined as the ability to maintain 65 mph on a four percent uphill grade

29.
Miles per gallon gasoline equivalent
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Miles per gallon gasoline equivalent is a measure of the average distance traveled per unit of energy consumed. The MPGe metric was introduced in November 2010 by EPA in the Monroney sticker of the Nissan Leaf electric car, all new cars and light-duty trucks sold in the U. S. are required to have this label showing the EPAs estimate of fuel economy of the vehicle. Fuel economy estimates for window stickers and CAFE standard compliance are different, Fuel economy for CAFE purposes include an incentive adjustment for alternative fuel vehicles and plug-in electric vehicles which results in higher MPGe than those estimated for window stickers.15. For the purposes of calculation, the fuel economy is equal to the weighted average of the fuel economy while operating on natural gas. Beginning in 1993, manufacturers of other alternative fuel automobiles that meet the qualifying requirements can also benefit for special treatment in the calculation of their CAFE. In 1994 the U. S. National Institute of Standards, NIST defined a gasoline gallon equivalent as 5.660 pounds of natural gas, and gasoline liter equivalent as 0.678 kilograms of natural gas. Popular models available in California included the General Motors EV1 and the Toyota RAV4 EV, the formula also includes a fuel efficiency incentive factor of 1/0.15 to benefit electric vehicles. The incentive factor chosen by DoE for EVs is the same 1/0.15 factor already applied in the treatment of other types of alternative fuel vehicles. When all factors are considered in DoEs formula, the efficiency or equivalent fuel economy of electric vehicles increases from 33,705 Wh/gallon to 82,049 Wh/gallon. As required by the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act, with the introduction of vehicles in the U. S. These changes were proposed to be introduced in new vehicles beginning with model year 2012, the EPA rating for on board energy efficiency for electric vehicles before 2010 was expressed as kilowatt-hour per 100 miles. The window sticker of the 2009 Mini E showed an energy consumption of 33 kW-hrs/100 mi for city driving and 36 kW-hrs/100 mi on the highway, technically equivalent to 102 mpg city and 94 mpg highway. The 2009 Tesla Roadster was rated 32 kW-hrs/100 mi in city and 33 kW-hrs/100 mi on the highway, the research showed that participants did not understand the concept of a kilowatt hour as a measure of electric energy use despite the use of this unit in their monthly electric bills. Instead, participants favored a miles per gallon equivalent, MPGe, the research also concluded that the kW-hrs per 100 miles metric was more confusing to focus group participants compared to a miles per kW-hr. Based on these results, EPA decided to use the fuel economy and fuel consumption metrics on the redesigned labels, MPG, MPGe, Gallons per 100 miles. In November 2010, EPA introduced MPGe as comparison metric on its new sticker for fuel economy for the Nissan Leaf and the Chevrolet Volt. A gallon of gasoline equivalent means the number of kilowatt-hours of electricity, cubic feet of compressed natural gas, as mentioned above, confusion and misinterpretation is common in the public between the two types of fuel efficiency. Fuel economy measures how far a vehicle will go per amount of fuel, Fuel consumption is the reciprocal of fuel economy, and measures the fuel used to drive a fixed distance

30.
Exhaust gas
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Exhaust gas or flue gas is emitted as a result of the combustion of fuels such as natural gas, gasoline, petrol, biodiesel blends, diesel fuel, fuel oil, or coal. According to the type of engine, it is discharged into the atmosphere through an exhaust pipe, flue gas stack and it often disperses downwind in a pattern called an exhaust plume. A2013 study by MIT indicates that 53,000 early deaths occur per year in the United States alone because of vehicle emissions. According to another study from the university, traffic fumes alone cause the death of 5,000 people every year just in the United Kingdom. The largest part of most combustion gas is nitrogen, water vapor, and carbon dioxide, Exhaust gas temperature is important to the functioning of the catalytic converter of an internal combustion engine. It may be measured by an exhaust gas temperature gauge, EGT is also a measure of engine health in gas-turbine engines. During the first two minutes after starting the engine of a car that has not been operated for several hours, inefficient catalytic converter under cold conditions, Catalytic converters are very inefficient until up to their operating temperature. This time has much reduced by moving the converter closer to the exhaust manifold. The small converter handles the start-up emissions, which enough time for the larger main converter to heat up. Further improvements can be realised in many ways, including heating, thermal battery, chemical reaction preheating, flame heating. The requirements were phased in beginning with 2004 vehicles and all new cars, in spark-ignition engines the gases resulting from combustion of the fuel and air mix are called exhaust gases. The composition varies from petrol to diesel engines, but is around these levels, The 10% oxygen for diesel is likely if the engine was idling and it is much less if the engine is running under load. People exposed to it should wear a gas mask, in aircraft gas turbine engines, exhaust gas temperature is a primary measure of engine health. Typically the EGT is compared with an engine power indication called engine pressure ratio. For example, at full power EPR there will be a maximum permitted EGT limit, once an engine reaches a stage in its life where it reaches this EGT limit, the engine will require specific maintenance in order to rectify the problem. The amount the EGT is below the EGT limit is called EGT margin, the EGT margin of an engine will be greatest when the engine is new, or has been overhauled. For most airlines, this information is monitored remotely by the airline maintenance department by means of ACARS. In jet engines and rocket engines, exhaust from propelling nozzles which in some applications shows shock diamonds, Flue gas Flue gas emissions from fossil fuel combustion In steam engine terminology the exhaust is steam that is now so low in pressure that it can no longer do useful work

31.
The Very Light Car
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The Very Light Car is a prototype design for 2- and 4-passenger automobiles emphasizing low weight and overall efficiency. It was originally developed by the Edison2 team for the Automotive X Prize competition.5 MPGe, the design emphasizes mainstream rather than exotic materials, extreme low weight and very low aerodynamic drag. Significant design innovations include in-wheel suspension and safety design derived from endurance auto racing, Edison2 was founded by Oliver Kuttner, a Virginia entrepreneur and auto enthusiast, and is headquartered in Lynchburg, Virginia. The VLC development involved over 100 of its own and other companies employees, after the contest, the team brought on designer Jason Hill and electric vehicle expert Ron Cervan. Their four competition vehicles were powered by small one-cylinder E85-gasohol-fueled internal combustion engines, the aim was to achieve the prizes requirement of 100 MPGe or higher fuel economy. Their two 4-passenger cars were the qualifiers in the finals of the mainstream division of the competition. All other mainstream entrants broke down in qualifying rounds or failed to achieve minimum MPGe requirements, one of them won the 2010 division prize of $5 million with a fuel economy of 102.5 MPGe. Edison2 could not participate in final validation tests at Argonne Laboratories because two engines were damaged during the portion of final tests before validation. Competition officials ruled that Edison2 was not at fault for the incidents at Coast Down that damaged the engines of both of their Mainstream Class entries, in the absence of time and finances to repair and calibrate engines, officials granted Edison2 a waiver from validation testing. Edison2 was permitted to provide independent third-party validation reports instead of undergoing the same validation testing as other finalist teams, Progressive Automotive Xprize posted Edison2s final MPGe results in a press release on their website. In addition to its entries in the X Prize mainstream division, the side by side alternative class entrant, #96, failed to meet the minimum 67 MPGe fuel-economy requirement during the knockout phase of the X Prize competition and was eliminated. The tandem alternative class entry suffered catastrophic failure, possibly due to a software problem. After winning the X-Prize, Edison2 continues work on further VLC prototypes, developing more aerodynamic bodies, a drive train. In addition, further prototypes are aimed more at consumer acceptance than bare-bones competition requirements, the eventual aim is to have established auto manufacturers pick up low-weight designs for mass production, and possibly license individual technologies, such as the in-wheel suspension. Shared the 2010 Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE, selected by Time Magazine as one of the 50 Best Inventions of the Year 2010 Media related to The Very Light Car at Wikimedia Commons Eric Cahill. The Competition Isn’t Over Yet, Why Validation Matters, Progressive Automotive XPrize Blog, auto X-Prizes Mainstream Finalist Gets OK to Provide Own Validation Results Edmunds. com Green Car Advisor, August 17,2010

32.
E85
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E85 is an abbreviation typically referring to an ethanol fuel blend of 85% denatured ethanol fuel and 15% gasoline or other hydrocarbon by volume. In the United States, the ratio of fuel ethanol to hydrocarbon may vary according to ASTM5798 that specifies the allowable ethanol content in E85 as ranging from 51% to 83%. Cold cranking in cold climates is the primary reason ethanol fuel is blended with any gasoline fraction, in Brazil, ethanol fuel is neat at the pumps, hence flexible-fuel vehicles including trucks, tractors, motorbikes and mopeds run on E100. The 85% fraction is sold at pumps worldwide, and when specifically supplied or sold as E85 is always 85% ethanol. Having a guaranteed ethanol fraction obviates the need for a system to calculate best engine tune according to maximise performance. In countries like Australia where E85 is always 85% ethanol, performance motoring enthusiasts, E85 reduces exhaust emissions, there is a greater potential for localized production of ethanol in agricultural areas and utilization of waste materials. Also, a diversification of fuel sources reduces dependence on any one type of fuel. They claim that some engines have already produced 22% more miles per gallon than identical gasoline engines. Ethanol advocates also state that it is a mistake to base ethanol engine design on gasoline engine design, using this approach, the EPA has produced an ethanol-only engine which achieves much higher brake thermal efficiency levels than gasoline engines achieve. Mileage is dependent upon the composition of the blend, transmission. In the United States to offset this difference in consumption in vehicles not optimised for ethanol. In contrast, ethanol critics contest the benefits of E85 by focusing on the fact that E85 has 33% lower heating value compared to the heating value of gasoline. However comparing energy expressed as a value of heat does not reflect the work from an Otto Cycle. E85 ethanol is used in engines modified to accept higher concentrations of ethanol. In the US such FFVs are designed to run on any mixture of gasoline or ethanol up to 85% ethanol, whereas in countries such as Brazil where the climate is typically warmer, there are a few major differences between FFVs and non-FFVs. One is the elimination of bare magnesium, aluminum, and rubber parts in the fuel system, fuel injection control systems have a wider range of pulse widths to inject up to 34% more fuel. Stainless steel fuel lines, sometimes lined with plastic, and stainless-steel fuel tanks in place of fuel tanks have been used. In some cases, FFVs use specific engine oil that neutralises acidity, for vehicles with in-tank-mounted fuel pumps, precautions to prevent arcing, as well as flame arrestors positioned in the tanks fill pipe, are sometimes used

33.
Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X Challenge
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The Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X CHALLENGE was a challenge award offered by the X PRIZE Foundation for efficient capturing of crude oil from ocean water. Inspired by the ongoing Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster, the award was announced on July 29,2010, the first three teams were to be awarded US$1 million, US$300,000 and US$100,000 respectively. Of the over 350 teams that preregistered to participate in the challenge by January 2011,37 officially registered the following month, by the time of the official testing in May 2011, the field of challengers had been narrowed to ten teams. The winners for the challenge were announced on October 11,2011, the first-place finisher and winner of the $1 million prize was the team of Elastec/American Marine using a design similar to a Tesla turbine. The second-place finisher and winner of $300,000 was the team NOFI, no other team met all of the challenges goals, so the planned third place prize was not awarded. The US$1.4 million prize purse was offered by Wendy Schmidt from The Schmidt Family Foundation, Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X CHALLENGE award announcement Official Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X CHALLENGE results

34.
Lunar Lander Challenge
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The Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge was a competition funded by NASAs Centennial Challenges program. The multi-level competition was conducted by the X PRIZE Foundation, with sponsorship from the Northrop Grumman Corporation who ran the ongoing competition, the prize purses were paid by NASA. The competition is divided into two levels, both levels require teams to demonstrate control of their vehicle by flying to an altitude of more than 50 meters, flying laterally for 100 m, and landing on a pad. For level 1, this pad is a simple 10 m diameter circle, for level 2, it is a lunar surface. After completing this first flight, the vehicle can then be refueled, each flight must meet a required minimum flight time of 90 seconds for level 1 and 180 seconds for level 2. For each level, the two flights along with any necessary preparation must be accomplished within a short 150-minute time period, each Level offered a first- and second-place prize. Level 1 awarded a first place prize purse of $350,000, the more difficult level 2 awarded first place prize of $1 million and a $500,000 second place prize. 2006 was the first year of the competition and it was announced on May 5,2006, giving teams only a few months to prepare for the late-October competition. Although four teams officially registered for the competition, only one was able to receive the required permit from the FAA before the event. Armadillo Aerospace arrived at the 2006 event, held at Las Cruces International Airport in New Mexico, in the end, Armadillo made three attempts to win the prize, each one using Pixel. The 2007 Lunar Lander Challenge took place on October 27–28 at the Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, micro-Space, one of the teams registered in 2007, had to retreat from the competition after they missed a mandatory meeting. The only team to compete was again Armadillo Aerospace, Armadillo entered their MOD vehicle for level 1. They attempted six flights, but never completed the full profile, a flight on October 27 ended with the vehicle crashing on the return flight. Their final flight attempt on October 28 caused a fire on the launch pad, team leader John Carmack expressed his disappointment, saying today is officially a bad day when it comes to our vehicle. The 2008 Lunar Lander Challenge took place October 24–25, back at the Las Cruces International Airport, because the X PRIZE Cup was canceled for 2008, the Lunar Lander Challenge was held separately, and was open only to members of the press. It was, however, broadcast live by the official event webcast, SpaceVidcast, the only teams that flew were Armadillo Aerospace and TrueZer0. Both received waivers from the FAA to fly experimental rockets, TrueZer0 attempted level 1, achieved hover, then lost roll control and was aborted and crashed. Armadillo had an unsuccessful first attempt at level 1, and landed early due to inadequate thrust, on their second attempt they completed the first leg, but the second leg was cut short by the FAA closing the flight window

35.
Qualcomm
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Qualcomm is an American multinational semiconductor and telecommunications equipment company that designs and markets wireless telecommunications products and services. It derives most of its revenue from chipmaking and the bulk of its profit from patent licensing businesses, the company headquarters are located in San Diego, California, United States, and has 224 worldwide locations. The parent company is Qualcomm Incorporated, which includes the Qualcomm Technology Licensing Division, Jacobs and Viterbi had previously founded Linkabit. In 1990, Qualcomm began the design of the first CDMA-based cellular base station and this work began as a study contract from AirTouch which was facing a shortage of cellular capacity in Los Angeles. Two years later Qualcomm began to manufacture CDMA cell phones, base stations, the initial base stations were not reliable and the technology was licensed wholly to Nortel in return for their work in improving the base station switching. The first CDMA technology was standardized as IS-95, Qualcomm has since helped to establish the CDMA2000, WCDMA and LTE cellular standards. The following year, Qualcomm acquired Eudora, a client for PC that could be used with the OmniTRACS system. The acquisition associated a widely used email client with a company that was little-known at the time, in 1997, Qualcomm paid $18 million for the naming rights to the Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, renaming it to Qualcomm Stadium. The naming rights belong to Qualcomm until 2017. In 1999, Qualcomm sold its base station business to Ericsson, the company was now focused on developing and licensing wireless technologies and selling ASICs that implement them. Steve Mollenkopf was promoted to president and chief operating officer of the company, mollenkopfs appointment as CEO was announced on December 13,2013 and took effect on March 4,2014. He succeeded Paul E. Jacobs, who remains executive chairman, CFO Bill Keitel retired and was replaced by Applied Materials CFO George Davis on March 11,2013. Vista Equity Partners took over the Omnitracs business from Qualcomm Incorporated in November 2013, in October 2014, Qualcomm wrapped up a deal for chip maker CSR Plc for a fee of $2.5 billion, beating its biggest rival Microchip Technology. However, surprised by the release of the 64-bit Apple A7 in September 2013, furthermore, Qualcomm was facing anti-trust investigations in China, the European Union, and the United States. The combination of pressures caused a significant fall in Qualcomms profits. In July 2015, the company cut 4,700 jobs or about 15 percent of its 31,300 current workforce due to decline of sales, executive management knew this was coming so they came up with a plan to retain its employees. However, instead of paying reasonable salary, executive management used this plan as a justification to give themselves a big payout first and then lay off employees later. In December 2015, Qualcomm Inc. announced that it had rejected calls to split itself in two, deciding to keep its chipmaking and patent licensing businesses together

36.
Tricorder
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In the science-fictional Star Trek universe, a tricorder is a multifunction hand-held device used for sensor scanning, data analysis, and recording data. Three primary variants of the tricorder appear in Star Trek, issued by the fictional organization Starfleet, the standard tricorder is a general-purpose device used primarily to scout unfamiliar areas, make detailed examination of living things, and record and review technical data. The engineering tricorder is fine-tuned for starship engineering purposes, there are also many other lesser-used varieties of special-use tricorders. The word tricorder is an abbreviation of the full name, the TRI-function reCORDER, referring to the devices primary functions, sensing, computing. The tricorder of the 23rd century, as seen in Star Trek, The Original Series, is a black, rectangular device with a top-mounted rotating hood, the top pivots open, exposing a small screen and control buttons. The ships doctor uses a variant of model with a detachable sensor probe stored in the bottom compartment when not in use. The probe was actually fashioned from a shaker to save costs. The 24th-century version introduced in Star Trek, The Next Generation is a small, gray and this design was later refined with a slightly more angular appearance that was seen in most Next Generation-era movies as well as later seasons of Star Trek, Deep Space Nine and Voyager. In the post-Next Generation era, a newer tricorder was introduced and it is flatter, with a small flap that opens on top and a large touchscreen interface. The tricorder prop for the original Star Trek series was designed and built by Wah Ming Chang, some of his designs are considered to have been influential on later, real-world consumer electronics devices. For instance, his communicator inspired cell phone inventor Martin Coopers desire to create his own form of a communication device. Many other companies followed this example and life-sized replicas remain popular collectibles today, the tricorder in The Next Generation was initially inspired by the HP-41C scientific calculator. Software exists to make hand-held devices simulate a tricorder, examples include Jeff Jettons Tricorder for the PalmPilot, the Web application for the Pocket PC, iPhone, and iPod Touch, and an Android version. Vital Technologies Corporation sold a portable device dubbed the Official Star-Trek Tricorder Mark 1 in 1996 and its features were an Electromagnetic Field Meter, Two-Mode Weather Station, Colorimeter, Light meter, and Stardate Clock and Timer. Spokespersons claimed the device was a scientific instrument. Vital Technologies marketed the TR-107 as a run of 10,000 units before going out of business. The company was permitted to call this device a tricorder because Gene Roddenberrys contract included a clause allowing any company able to create functioning technology to use the name and this was also announced as a tricorder. In March 2014, the company launched a campaign to support clinical trials of the device

37.
Star Trek
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Star Trek is an American science fiction media franchise based on the television series created by Gene Roddenberry. The first television series, simply called Star Trek and now referred to as The Original Series, debuted in 1966 and it followed the interstellar adventures of Captain James T. Kirk and his crew aboard the starship USS Enterprise, an exploration vessel. The Star Trek canon of the franchise include The Original Series, a series, four spin-off television series, its film franchise. In creating Star Trek, Roddenberry was inspired by the Horatio Hornblower novels, the satirical book Gullivers Travels and these adventures continued in the short-lived Star Trek, The Animated Series and six feature films. The adventures of The Next Generation crew continued in four feature films. In 2009, the franchise underwent a reboot set in an alternate timeline, or Kelvin Timeline. This film featured a new cast portraying younger versions of the crew from the show, their adventures were continued in the sequel film. The thirteenth film feature and sequel, Star Trek Beyond, was released to coincide with the franchises 50th anniversary, a new Star Trek TV series, titled Star Trek, Discovery, will premiere in May 2017 on the digital platform CBS All Access. Star Trek has been a phenomenon for decades. Fans of the franchise are called Trekkies or Trekkers, the franchise spans a wide range of spin-offs including games, figurines, novels, toys, and comics. Star Trek had an attraction in Las Vegas that opened in 1998. At least two museum exhibits of props travel the world, the series has its own full-fledged constructed language, Klingon. Several parodies have been made of Star Trek, in addition, viewers have produced several fan productions. As of July 2016, the franchise had generated $10 billion in revenue, Star Trek is noted for its cultural influence beyond works of science fiction. The franchise is also noted for its civil rights stances. The Original Series included one of televisions first multiracial casts, Star Trek references can be found throughout popular culture from movies such as the submarine thriller Crimson Tide to the animated series South Park. As early as 1964, Gene Roddenberry drafted a proposal for the series that would become Star Trek

38.
Google Lunar X Prize
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The Google Lunar XPRIZE, sometimes referred to as Moon 2.0, is an inducement prize space competition organized by XPRIZE, and sponsored by Google. In 2015, XPRIZE announced that the deadline would be extended to December 2017 if at least one team could secure a verified launch contract by 31 December 2015. Two teams secured such a contract, and the deadline was extended. As of 2017,5 teams remain in the competition, SpaceIL, Moon Express, Synergy Moon, Team Indus, and Team Hakuto, having secured verified launch contracts for 2017. All teams must launch by the end of 2017, the Google Lunar XPRIZE was announced at the Wired Nextfest on 13 September 2007. The first team to do so will claim the US$20 million grand prize, additionally, a US$1 million diversity award may be given to teams that make significant strides in promoting ethnic diversity in STEM fields. The Chinese Change 3 probe landed on the Moon in December 2013, however, in November 2013, as the launch of the probe approached, it was agreed between the organizers and the teams to drop this rule. In 2015, XPRIZE announced that the deadline would be extended to December 2017 if at least one team could secure a verified launch contract by 31 December 2015. Two teams secured such a contract, and the deadline was extended. XPRIZE announced 5 finalists on January 24,2017, SpaceIL, Moon Express, Synergy Moon, Team Indus and Hakuto having secured verified launch contracts for 2017. All other teams had until the end of 2016 to secure a verified launch contract, the Google Lunar XPRIZE expires when all constituent purses have been claimed, or at the end of the year 2017, whichever comes first. At the time the prize was announced, the last operational vehicle on the Moon had landed in 1976, even then, it will be at a large expense, and probably with little public involvement. The Google Lunar XPRIZE was announced in 2007, similar to the way in which the Ansari XPRIZE was formed, the Google Lunar XPRIZE was created out of a former venture of Peter Diamandis to achieve a similar goal. Dr Diamandis served as CEO of BlastOff, corporation, a commercial initiative to land a robotic spacecraft on the Moon as a mix of entertainment, internet, and space. Although it was unsuccessful, the BlastOff. Initiative paved the way for the Google Lunar X Prize, initially, NASA was the planned sponsor and the prize purse was just US$20 million. As NASA is an agency of the United States government, and thus funded by US tax money. However, budget setbacks stopped NASA from sponsoring the prize, Peter Diamandis then presented the idea to Larry Page and Sergey Brin, co-founders of Google, at an XPRIZE fundraiser

39.
Geology of the Moon
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The geology of the Moon is quite different from that of Earth. The complex geomorphology of the surface has been formed by a combination of processes, especially impact cratering. The Moon is a body, with a crust, mantle. Geological studies of the Moon are based on a combination of Earth-based telescope observations, measurements from orbiting spacecraft, lunar samples, and geophysical data. Six locations were sampled directly during the manned Apollo program landings from 1969 to 1972, in addition, three robotic Soviet Luna spacecraft returned another 326 grams from 1970 to 1976. The Moon is the only body for which we have samples with a known geologic context. A handful of lunar meteorites have been recognized on Earth, though their source craters on the Moon are unknown, a substantial portion of the lunar surface has not been explored, and a number of geological questions remain unanswered. Elements known to be present on the surface include, among others, oxygen, silicon, iron, magnesium, calcium, aluminium, manganese. Among the more abundant are oxygen, iron and silicon, the oxygen content is estimated at 45%. Carbon and nitrogen appear to be present only in quantities from deposition by solar wind. Neutron spectrometry data from Lunar Prospector indicate the presence of hydrogen concentrated at the poles, for a long period of time, the fundamental question regarding the history of the Moon was of its origin. Early hypotheses included fission from Earth, capture, and co-accretion, today, the giant impact hypothesis is widely accepted by the scientific community. The geological history of the Moon has been defined into six major epochs, starting about 4.5 billion years ago, the newly formed Moon was in a molten state and was orbiting much closer to Earth resulting in tidal forces. These tidal forces deformed the molten body into an ellipsoid, with the major axis pointed towards Earth, the first important event in the geologic evolution of the Moon was the crystallization of the near global magma ocean. It is not known with certainty what its depth was, the first minerals to form in this ocean were the iron and magnesium silicates olivine and pyroxene. Because these minerals were denser than the material around them. After crystallization was about 75% complete, less dense anorthositic plagioclase feldspar crystallized and floated, forming an anorthositic crust about 50 km in thickness. The oldest of the Mg-suite rocks have ages of about 3.85 Ga. However

40.
Archon X Prize
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The 30 day evaluation phase of the competition to begin on September 5,2013, was canceled August 22,2013 and this cancellation was debated on March 27,2014. The $10 million was donated by Canadian geologist and philanthropist Stewart Blusson, the name Archon is the name of Blussons company, which refers to the type of lithosphere beneath northern Canada. Upon cancellation, the money was returned to the Blussons because no Master Team Agreements were in place, the Archon X Prize in genomics began as a joint effort of the X Prize Foundation and the J. Craig Venter Science Foundation. The 100 human genomes to be sequenced in this competition were donated by 100 centenarians from all over the world and these centenarians’ genes would provide us with a window to the past, significantly impacting the future of healthcare. Although the contest is cancelled, the X PRIZE foundation collected blood samples and those genomes are expected to be sequenced nonetheless and put into an open data forum. The two officially registered teams were Ion Torrent in Guilford, CT and Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering in Boston MA and these teams were announced 23-Jul-2012 and 3-Oct-2012. This global competition was expected to inspire breakthrough genome sequencing innovations, a public debate concerning the validity and potential implications of the cancellation was published March 27,2014

41.
Human genome
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The human genome is the complete set of nucleic acid sequence for humans, encoded as DNA within the 23 chromosome pairs in cell nuclei and in a small DNA molecule found within individual mitochondria. Human genomes include both protein-coding DNA genes and noncoding DNA, haploid human genomes, which are contained in germ cells consist of three billion DNA base pairs, while diploid genomes have twice the DNA content. The Human Genome Project produced the first complete sequences of human genomes, with the first draft sequence. The human genome was the first of all vertebrates to be completely sequenced, as of 2012, thousands of human genomes have been completely sequenced, and many more have been mapped at lower levels of resolution. The resulting data are used worldwide in biomedical science, anthropology, forensics, there is a widely held expectation that genomic studies will lead to advances in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, and to new insights in many fields of biology, including human evolution. Although the sequence of the genome has been completely determined by DNA sequencing. There are an estimated 19, 000-20,000 human protein-coding genes, in June 2016, scientists formally announced HGP-Write, a plan to synthesize the human genome. The total length of the genome is over 3 billion base pairs. The genome is organized into 22 paired chromosomes, plus the X chromosome and, in males only and these are all large linear DNA molecules contained within the cell nucleus. The genome also includes the mitochondrial DNA, a small circular molecule present in each mitochondrion. Basic information about these molecules and their content, based on a reference genome that does not represent the sequence of any specific individual, are provided in the following table. Chromosome lengths were estimated by multiplying the number of base pairs by 0.34 nanometers, variations are unique DNA sequence differences that have been identified in the individual human genome sequences analyzed by Ensembl as of December,2016. The number of identified variations is expected to increase as further personal genomes are sequenced and analyzed, in addition to the gene content shown in this table, a large number of non-expressed functional sequences have been identified throughout the human genome. Links open windows to the reference chromosome sequences in the EBI genome browser, small non-coding RNAs are RNAs of as many as 200 bases that do not have protein-coding potential. These include, microRNAs, or miRNAs, small nuclear RNAs, or snRNAs, long non-coding RNAs are RNA molecules longer than 200 bases that do not have protein-coding potential. Although the human genome has been sequenced for all practical purposes. A recent study noted more than 160 euchromatic gaps of which 50 gaps were closed, however, there are still numerous gaps in the heterochromatic parts of the genome which is much harder to sequence due to numerous repeats and other intractable sequence features. The content of the genome is commonly divided into coding and noncoding DNA sequences

42.
Genome
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In modern molecular biology and genetics, a genome is the genetic material of an organism. The genome includes both the genes, the noncoding DNA and the material of the mitochondria and chloroplasts. The term genome was created in 1920 by Hans Winkler, professor of botany at the University of Hamburg, the Oxford Dictionary suggests the name is a blend of the words gene and chromosome. However, see omics for a thorough discussion. A few related -ome words already existed—such as biome, rhizome, Some organisms have multiple copies of chromosomes, diploid, triploid, tetraploid and so on. In classical genetics, in a sexually reproducing organism the gamete has half the number of chromosomes of the somatic cell, the halving of the genetic material in gametes is accomplished by the segregation of homologous chromosomes during meiosis. Additionally, the genome can comprise non-chromosomal genetic elements such as viruses, plasmids, even in species that exist in only one sex, what is described as a genome sequence may be a composite read from the chromosomes of various individuals. Colloquially, the genetic makeup is sometimes used to signify the genome of a particular individual or organism. Both the number of pairs and the number of genes vary widely from one species to another. The only exception in humans is found in red blood cells which become enucleated during development. In 1976, Walter Fiers at the University of Ghent was the first to establish the complete sequence of a viral RNA-genome. The next year Fred Sanger completed the first DNA-genome sequence, Phage Φ-X174, the first genome sequence for an archaeon, Methanococcus jannaschii, was completed in 1996, again by The Institute for Genomic Research. The development of new technologies has made it easier and cheaper to do sequencing. The US National Institutes of Health maintains one of several databases of genomic information. Among the thousands of completed genome sequencing projects include those for rice, a mouse, the plant Arabidopsis thaliana, the fish. In December 2013, scientists first sequenced the genome of a Neanderthal. The genome was extracted from the toe bone of a 130, new sequencing technologies, such as massive parallel sequencing have also opened up the prospect of personal genome sequencing as a diagnostic tool, as pioneered by Manteia Predictive Medicine. A major step toward that goal was the completion in 2007 of the genome of James D. Watson

43.
Artificial intelligence
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Artificial intelligence is intelligence exhibited by machines. Colloquially, the artificial intelligence is applied when a machine mimics cognitive functions that humans associate with other human minds, such as learning. As machines become increasingly capable, mental facilities once thought to require intelligence are removed from the definition, for instance, optical character recognition is no longer perceived as an example of artificial intelligence, having become a routine technology. AI research is divided into subfields that focus on specific problems or on specific approaches or on the use of a tool or towards satisfying particular applications. The central problems of AI research include reasoning, knowledge, planning, learning, natural language processing, perception, general intelligence is among the fields long-term goals. Approaches include statistical methods, computational intelligence, and traditional symbolic AI, Many tools are used in AI, including versions of search and mathematical optimization, logic, methods based on probability and economics. The AI field draws upon computer science, mathematics, psychology, linguistics, philosophy, neuroscience, the field was founded on the claim that human intelligence can be so precisely described that a machine can be made to simulate it. Some people also consider AI a danger to humanity if it progresses unabatedly, while thought-capable artificial beings appeared as storytelling devices in antiquity, the idea of actually trying to build a machine to perform useful reasoning may have begun with Ramon Llull. With his Calculus ratiocinator, Gottfried Leibniz extended the concept of the calculating machine, since the 19th century, artificial beings are common in fiction, as in Mary Shelleys Frankenstein or Karel Čapeks R. U. R. The study of mechanical or formal reasoning began with philosophers and mathematicians in antiquity, in the 19th century, George Boole refined those ideas into propositional logic and Gottlob Frege developed a notational system for mechanical reasoning. Around the 1940s, Alan Turings theory of computation suggested that a machine, by shuffling symbols as simple as 0 and 1 and this insight, that digital computers can simulate any process of formal reasoning, is known as the Church–Turing thesis. Along with concurrent discoveries in neurology, information theory and cybernetics, the first work that is now generally recognized as AI was McCullouch and Pitts 1943 formal design for Turing-complete artificial neurons. The field of AI research was born at a conference at Dartmouth College in 1956, attendees Allen Newell, Herbert Simon, John McCarthy, Marvin Minsky and Arthur Samuel became the founders and leaders of AI research. At the conference, Newell and Simon, together with programmer J. C, shaw, presented the first true artificial intelligence program, the Logic Theorist. This spurred tremendous research in the domain, computers were winning at checkers, solving problems in algebra, proving logical theorems. By the middle of the 1960s, research in the U. S. was heavily funded by the Department of Defense and laboratories had been established around the world. AIs founders were optimistic about the future, Herbert Simon predicted, machines will be capable, within twenty years, Marvin Minsky agreed, writing, within a generation. The problem of creating artificial intelligence will substantially be solved and they failed to recognize the difficulty of some of the remaining tasks

44.
TED (conference)
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TED is a media organization which posts talks online for free distribution, under the slogan ideas worth spreading. TED was founded in February 1984 as a conference, which has been held annually since 1990. TEDs early emphasis was technology and design, consistent with its Silicon Valley origins, but it has broadened its focus to include talks on many scientific, cultural. The main TED conference is held annually in Vancouver, British Columbia, prior to 2014, the conference was held in Long Beach. TED events are held throughout North America and in Europe and Asia. They address a range of topics within the research and practice of science and culture. The speakers are given a maximum of 18 minutes to present their ideas in the most innovative, TEDs current curator is the British former computer journalist and magazine publisher Chris Anderson. Since June 2006, TED Talks have been offered for free viewing online, under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives Creative Commons license, as of March 2016, over 2,400 TED Talks are freely available on the website. In June 2011, TED Talks combined viewing figure stood at more than 500 million, not all TED Talks are equally popular, however. Those given by academics tend to be watched more online while art, TED was conceived in 1984 by architect and graphic designer Richard Saul Wurman, who observed a convergence of the fields of technology, entertainment, and design. Presentations were given by famous mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot and influential members of the community, like Nicholas Negroponte. The event was unsuccessful, it took six years before the second conference was organized. In 2000, Wurman, looking for a successor at age 65, met with new-media entrepreneur, Andersons UK media company Future bought TED. And in November 2001, Andersons non-profit The Sapling Foundation acquired TED from Future for £6m, in February 2002, Anderson gave a TED Talk in which he explained his vision of the conference and his future role of curator. Wurman left after the 2002 conference, in 2006, attendance cost was $4,400 per person and was by invitation only. The membership model was shifted in January 2007 to a membership fee of $6,000, which includes attendance of the conference, club mailings, networking tools. The 2017 conference will be $8,500 per attendee, in 2014, the conference was relocated to Vancouver. TED is currently funded by a combination of revenue streams, including conference attendance fees, corporate sponsorships, foundation support, licensing fees

45.
Naveen Jain
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Naveen K. Jain is a business executive, entrepreneur and the founder and former CEO of InfoSpace. His work at InfoSpace was one of the contributors to the dot-com bubble, InfoSpace briefly became one of the largest internet companies in the American Northwest, before the crash of the dot-com bubble and a series of accounting lawsuits. After moving to Intelius, Jain co-founded Moon Express, where he is currently chairman, Jain was born in India and grew up in a poor family. He earned a degree from Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee. Initially working for several companies, eventually joining Microsoft in 1989. Naveen Jain was born in 1959 to a Jain family and his family was poor, largely because his father, a civil engineer, refused the common practice in Indian construction projects of accepting bribes. He grew up in New Delhi and in villages in Uttar Pradesh, Jain moved to Roorkee, where in 1979 he earned an engineering degree from Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee. He moved to the United States of America that same year and he looked up to businesspeople who made their own fortune, especially Bill Gates. Jain also had an early interest in space, Jains first job out of college in 1983 was at Burroughs in New Jersey as part of a business-exchange program. He moved to Silicon Valley for its climate and worked for a bunch of startups before joining Microsoft in 1989. Jain worked on OS/2, then MS-DOS, Windows NT, and he was awarded three patents related to Windows 95 and became best known for his work as a program manager. Jain joined the management team for Microsoft Network, prior to its launch, according to Red Herring, he became restless after eight years at the company and said he didnt feel a single person could make a difference at a large company like Microsoft. Naveen Jain was working on the launch of Microsoft Networks, when Netscape Communications raised $2.2 billion in a public offering in 1995. NetScapes IPO was considered the start of the bubble, because it showed that internet companies can have large IPOs without making a profit first. Naveen quit Microsoft to start InfoSpace that year, with the aim of having his own initial public offering as quickly as possible, Jain started InfoSpace with six employees, mostly from Microsoft, and began developing e-mail and telephone directories. InfoSpace provided content and services, such as phone directories, maps, games and information on the market, to websites. He grew the company at a low cost without funding and using co-branding strategies, rather than try to get traffic to an InfoSpace website, sites like Lycos, Excite and Playboy embedded Infospaces features and content into their site and added an InfoSpace icon to it. InfoSpace then earned money by taking a percentage of licensing

46.
Tata Group
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Tata Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It was founded in 1868 by Jamshedji Tata and gained recognition after purchasing several global companies. In 2015-16, the revenue of Tata companies altogether is $103.51 billion and these companies collectively employ over 660,000 people. Each Tata company or enterprise operates independently under the guidance and supervision of its own board of directors and shareholders, the Tata Group was awarded the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy in 2007 for philanthropic activities. The new building will be called the Tata Hall and used for the executive education programmes. The amount is the largest from a donor to Harvard Business School One Tata project brought together Tata Group companies was developing a compact. It was called Tata swach which means clean in Hindi and would cost less than 1000 rupees, the idea of Tata swach was thought of from the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean, which left thousands of people without clean drinking water. This device has filters that last about a long for a family of five. It is a low-cost product available for people who have no access to drinking water in their homes. The advantage of this device is that it not require the use of electricity. TCS also designed and donated an innovative software package that supposedly teaches illiterate adults how to read in 40 hours, the children of the people who have been through our literacy program are all in school, says Pankaj Baliga, global head of corporate social responsibility for TCS. In 1912, Tata Group expanded their CEOs concept of community philanthropy to be included in the workplace and they instituted an eight-hour workday, before nearly any other company in the world. In 1917, they recommended a policy for Tata employees. The company would be among the first worldwide to organise modern pension systems, workers compensation, maternity benefits, the charitable trusts of Tata Group fund a variety of projects, for example the Tata Swach and the TCS project. Each Tata Group company channels more than 4 percent of its income to the trusts. After the Mumbai attacks, salaries of the attacked Taj Hotel employees were paid despite the hotel being closed for reconstruction, about 1600 employees were provided food, water, sanitation and first aid through employee outreach centres. Ratan Tata personally visited families of all the employees that were affected, the employees relatives were flown to Mumbai from outside areas and were all accommodated for 3 weeks. Tata also covered compensation for employees, police staff

47.
Australian Aid
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AusAID, formally the Australian Agency for International Development, is the Australian organisation responsible for delivering most non-military foreign aid. It is an autonomous Commonwealth agency within the portfolio of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and it is based in the national capital, Canberra, and has representation in 25 Australian diplomatic missions overseas. As a public agency, AusAID provides policy advice and implements the overseas aid policy of the Australian government of the day. The agency has seen a variety of names and formats and it was founded in 1974 under the Whitlam Labor government as the Australian Development Assistance Agency to fulfill a role that had previously been the responsibility of several departments. It was renamed the Australian Development Assistance Bureau and brought under the Foreign Affairs and it became the Australian International Development Assistance Bureau under the Hawke government in 1987, before being given its current name by the Keating government in 1995. Cuts have not been limited to aid either, in mid-1996. In 2005 John Howard committed Australia to double Australian aid to about $4 billion a year by 2010, on the 18 December 2008, the William J. Clinton Foundation released a list of all contributors. It included AusAID, which gave between US$10-25 million, the Minister for Foreign Affairs is Stephen Smith. The Acting Director General is Peter Baxter, the 2005-06 Annual Report recorded 18 staff in the senior executive service out of a total of 516 public servant staff. 68 AusAID public servants are serving long term postings outside Australia and these figures do not include locally employed staff outside Australia. Total Australian Official Development Assistance in 2005-06 was A$2,605 million, AusAID administered $1,587 million of expenses in 2005-06 and also had departmental expenses of A$78 million. AusAIDs key manual is AusGuide - A Guide to Program Management, however, changes in the approach to aid programming that crystallised in the Governments 2006 White Paper have not yet been fully incorporated into a revised version of AusGuide. Many of the changes can be summarised as a move from traditional stand-alone projects managed by contractors to more sustainable, in 2002, as part of an international initiative, AusAID untied aid to Least Developed Countries. Since the White Paper in 2006, all AusAID procurement has been untied except for the Australia Indonesia Partnership for Reconstruction, there have not yet been significant numbers of contracts awarded to international firms. It is currently operating programs in five regions, Papua New Guinea, South Asia, East Asia, the Pacific. AusAIDs most vocal critic is the left-wing NGO Aid/Watch, Aid/Watch argue that The flow of aid can be constructive particularly in programs of emergency relief and health. Aid/Watch critiques of AusAIDs procurement policy have not been updated to reflect the untying of most aid procurement from April 2006, AusAID has also been criticised from the right-wing, particularly the Centre for Independent Studies. Helen Hughes of the CIS has argued that aid has failed PNG, there has been media criticism leveled at AusAID over the selection, equality, effectiveness and transparency of its contracts with consultants and advisors

48.
Atmospheric water generator
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An atmospheric water generator is a device that extracts water from humid ambient air. Water vapor in the air is condensed by cooling the air below its dew point, exposing the air to desiccants, unlike a dehumidifier, an AWG is designed to render the water potable. AWGs are useful where pure drinking water is difficult or impossible to obtain, the two primary techniques in use are cooling and desiccants. The extraction of water may not be free of cost. Certain traditional AWG methods are completely passive, relying on natural temperature differences, research has also developed AWG technologies to produce useful yields of water at a reduced energy cost. The Incas were able to sustain their culture above the line by collecting dew. Historical records indicate the use of water-collecting fog fences and these traditional methods have usually been completely passive, requiring no external energy source other than naturally occurring temperature variations. Several other societies developed Air Well as a way to collect moisture from air. Many atmospheric water generators operate in a very similar to that of a dehumidifier, air is passed over a cooled coil. The rate of production depends on the ambient temperature, humidity, the volume of air passing over the coil. These systems reduce air temperature, which in turn reduces the capacity to carry water vapor. An alternative available technology uses liquid, or wet desiccants such as chloride or lithium bromide to pull water from the air via hygroscopic processes. A proposed similar technique combines the use of solid desiccants, such as silica gel and zeolite, in a cooling condensation type atmospheric water generator, a compressor circulates refrigerant through a condenser and then an evaporator coil which cools the air surrounding it. This lowers the air temperature to its dew point, causing water to condense, a controlled-speed fan pushes filtered air over the coil. The rate at which water can be produced depends on relative humidity and ambient air temperature, atmospheric water generators become more effective as relative humidity and air temperature increase. As a rule of thumb, cooling condensation atmospheric water generators do not work efficiently when the temperature falls below 18. 3°C or the humidity drops below 30%. This means they are inefficient when located inside air-conditioned offices. The cost-effectiveness of an AWG depends on the capacity of the machine, local humidity and temperature conditions, new emerging technology utilize the Peltier effect of semi-conducting materials in which one side of the semi-conducting material heats while the other side cools

The Saint Louis Science Center, founded as a planetarium in 1963, is a collection of buildings including a science …

Saint Louis Science Center Entrance

The James S. McDonnell Planetarium, built in 1963 and featuring a thin-shell and hyperboloid structure by Gyo Obata. This building is one of the most distinctive components of the Saint Louis Science Center campus

Outer space, or just space, is the expanse that exists between celestial bodies, including Earth. Outer space is not …

This is an artist's concept of the metric expansion of space, where a volume of the Universe is represented at each time interval by the circular sections. At left is depicted the rapid inflation from the initial state, followed thereafter by steady expansion to the present day, shown at right.

William Shatner played the unflappable Captain James T. Kirk in The Original Series, The Animated Series, and seven films, helping to create the standard for all subsequent fictional Starfleet captains.

Sir Patrick Stewart, who played Captain Jean-Luc Picard in The Next Generation and subsequent films